Aarau renews cultural funding guidelines
The City of Aarau's Department of Culture has spent around a year and a half revising its cultural promotion guidelines in close consultation with local cultural practitioners.
The process of renewing the cultural funding guidelines, which began in 2023, was completed this summer, according to the city's press release. The main requests from cultural professionals were for more precise wording, more information on the application process, simplified application submission and generally better communication of information relating to cultural funding (important dates, infrastructure funding, posters, etc.).
The new cultural funding guidelines are more precisely formulated and clearly laid out. A Q&A provides brief and concise information on cultural funding in Aarau. The translation into simple language should also make it easier to access cultural funding. Digital projects and the promotion of artists at the beginning of their careers have been given greater weight in terms of content. It is also emphasized that support is always re-evaluated and that even if funding is approved several times, there is no entitlement to future funding. All documents are available on the website of the City of Aarau.
At its meeting on August 21, 2025, the Cultural Promotion Commission dealt with 18 applications from various sectors, with the new cultural promotion guidelines already being applied. In total, the Cultural Promotion Commission awarded grants amounting to CHF 56,900. More than half of these were for projects in the field of classical music/chorus music - the sector that was most strongly represented with ten applications.
