Kauai County opens FY2027 cultural grants for local programs and events

The County of Kauai opened applications Tuesday for its FY2027 Cultural Programs and Events Grant, a funding stream aimed at projects that can support ike Hawaii, hula, music, chant, language, storytelling and community festivals across the island. Applications close Thursday, Aug. 20, at 4 p.m., and the county says submissions go through the SMApply Grants System.

The grant information page lists the program as the FY2027 Kauai Cultural Programs & Events Grant, opening July 21, 2026, and frames it as a county opportunity for nonprofits, cultural practitioners, event organizers and community groups. For organizers planning neighborhood events in places such as Līhue, Kapaa, Kalaheo, Waimea and other community hubs, the deadline leaves a little over a month to assemble budgets, letters of support and project descriptions before the portal closes.

County materials show the Office of Economic Development handling the program from 4444 Rice Street, Suite 200, Līhue 96766. The office’s listed phone number is (808) 241-4946, and the grant contact emails shown in county materials are oed@kauai.gov and oedgrants@kauai.gov. Those are the routes applicants can use to confirm eligibility and submission details before filing.

The grant also signals where county cultural money has been going. On Feb. 6, 2026, the Office of Economic Development announced FY25-26 grantees totaling $141,628, and the county said that FY25-26 was the first year the cultural program was offered as a standalone funding opportunity. In the prior FY2026 request for proposals, the application window opened Dec. 1, 2025, at 4 p.m. and closed Dec. 31, 2025, at 4 p.m., with an estimated project funding period of about Feb. 1, 2026, to Jan. 30, 2027.

That recent history gives applicants a benchmark for the county’s scale of support. The FY25 cultural grant program said eligible applicants could request between $5,000 and $15,000, a range that would fit small-to-mid-sized productions, cultural workshops, local ceremonies, school partnerships and festivals that need help covering venue, production and outreach costs. With the FY2027 window now open, the county’s calendar will determine which cultural programs get public backing in the year ahead.