At TikTok, our goal has always been to inspire creativity and joy. So today we are delighted to announce the recipients of the €100,000 St Patrick’s Festival x TikTok Creative Fund, which has been awarded to ten community groups and charitable organisations across Ireland.

A pop-up community choir, dance workshops, heritage projects and tours, and arts and craft therapy sessions are just some of the projects which will be supported by the St. Patrick’s Festival x TikTok Creative Fund.

This community-based initiative is designed to support and inspire creativity, and each group will now receive a €10,000 project award which will support their work in developing and delivering creative responses to their own unique community challenges.

This creative investment forms the final part of the €500,000 commitment made by TikTok earlier this year to support St. Patrick's Festival 2021. These ten groups from eight counties across Ireland will also be invited to participate in a special community focused TikTok masterclass, where they can develop and enhance their storytelling skills through the TikTok platform and learn how best to harness the potential of social storytelling to communicate with their audiences.

The artistic journey of each community group, from selection through to the presentation of their creative project, will be captured and shared on both St. Patrick’s Festival and TikTok platforms. A selection of work will also be showcased to Ireland and the world during the national St. Patrick’s Festival in March 2022. Details of the Festival will be announced in the coming months.

Recipient groups

The St. Patrick’s Festival team will now commence work with each of the ten selected community groups to realise their ambitious creative projects. The following groups were selected as recipients of St. Patrick’s Festival x TikTok Creative Fund for their outstanding work in using artistic and cultural interventions as a tool to connect, enhance and inspire their local communities:

  • Kabin Studio, Cork, is an inclusive community hub which will use the funding to work with young people to launch a series of podcasts and music for International Women’s Day on 8th of March 2022 and a video piece for St. Patrick’s Day 2022.
  • Cavan Autism Education and Training Centre (CAETC), Cavan, a newly established autism charity, will use the fund to create their “Autism & The Arts” project, which will document a year of creative arts in CAETC involving one-to-one visual arts, health and wellbeing projects incorporating mindfulness and music sessions.
  • Freshly Ground Theatre, Dublin, is a collective of theatre makers which will use the funding to retell the story of Tír na nÓg with the residents of Glenasmole through audio-guided walks and an art installation in Tallaght.
  • Creative Lives, a non-profit organisation that champions community and volunteer-led creative activity, and Creative Edenderry, Offaly, a community project that aims to grow and promote creative activity, will use the funding for the ‘Dancing Shoes’ project that will bring together local residents of Edenderry through many different forms of dance.
  • Carlingford Lough Heritage Trust, Louth, which preserves the medieval built heritage of the town, will use the funding to create a new cultural event that will bring people of all ages and backgrounds together in Carlingford while raising awareness of the significance of the medieval Tholsel building within the town.
  • Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, is an art gallery and museum which will use the funding to provide research events on the River Nore and commission a sculptural intervention on the River Nore.
  • Discovery Gospel Choir, Dublin, is Ireland’s leading multi-cultural choir singing songs of hope from all over the world and they will use the funding to expand their ‘pop up’ community choir.
  • An Halla Mór An Clochán Liath CLG, Donegal, is a not-for-profit community group in the Gaeltacht area of Donegal which will use the funding to refurbish and renovate their local community hall to become an arts and culture venue.
  • Fatima Groups United, Dublin, works in partnership with the local communities of Fatima and Rialto and will use the funding to create a multi-disciplinary, intergenerational project that promotes cultural diversity in the area.
  • Purple House Cancer Support, Wicklow, is a community-based cancer support centre which will use the funding to provide children’s one-to-one Art Therapy sessions & adults art & crafts cancer therapy classes.


Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, said:

"I very much welcome this initiative from St Patrick's Festival and TikTok which is helping voluntary organisations and local groups across Ireland empower and inspire their communities through arts, culture, and creativity. This fund is a vital tool in helping communities re-invigorate important local projects after a very difficult period. It is great to see such creativity, artistic flair but also real community value in the work of the ten recipients, and I have no doubt the €10,000 award will support these local groups in continuing to deliver creative responses to their own unique community challenges.”

Caroline Goulding, Director and Data Protection Officer at TikTok, said:

"At TikTok our goal is to inspire creativity and to bring joy, so we're delighted to see 10 inspirational and deserving community groups receive €10,000 each from the St. Patrick's Festival x TikTok Creative Fund. We believe that arts and culture are essential for enriching, nourishing, and illuminating our communities, so we're pleased that this fund and our TikTok masterclass will help to nurture creativity in these communities across Ireland for years to come."

Anna McGowan, Interim Director of St. Patrick’s Festival, said:

“We’re delighted to support 10 wonderful community groups to connect with their communities through art and creativity with the St. Patrick’s Festival x TikTok Creative Fund. Each organisation has their own unique history and personality, and responds to the needs of their members and communities in distinct and creative ways. We look forward to guiding these community groups throughout the creative process and sharing that experience with the wider public in next year’s St. Patrick’s Festival’s celebrations.”