Every year Visit Bend supports local creatives and organizations by awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in visitor-funded grants to help grow Bend’s arts and culture scene as part of its broader work turning tourism into tangible community benefits. The clock is ticking. You must apply by March 27, 2026.
This year the Bend Cultural Tourism Fund has $300,000 to put directly back into the community. No project is too big or too small. Use the grant to help get the word out about your arts and culture event or to research what it would take to bring a new one to town, especially during the shoulder season and winter months that help smooth out peak-season pressure. These are not just visitor events. They are community experiences that give us more reasons to gather year-round.
Here are just a few that have benefited in the past:
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BendFilm, creators of one of the coolest film festivals in the country
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WinterFest, for the love of winter, with music, fire, and art
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Volcanic Theatre Pub, to keep our people dancing
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Día de Muertos, to celebrate the loved ones we’ve lost
The best part? Not a dime comes from our community coffers. These grants are entirely funded by overnight visitors. It works like this:
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When visitors spend the night at hotels, vacation rentals, and other lodging properties in town, they pay a 10.4 percent tax added to their bill.
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That generates nearly $10 million a year exclusively for the city to use to help pay for essential services like roads, police, and fire, offsetting costs that would otherwise fall more heavily on residents.
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Visit Bend reinvests an additional portion of those visitor-paid dollars back into local projects that strengthen Bend’s arts and culture scene, especially when businesses and nonprofits need support the most.
Over the years, Visit Bend has reinvested more than $2.5 million of visitor-tax dollars into 133 arts and culture projects from 50 organizations big and small. Grants are just one tool Visit Bend uses to ensure that our popularity as a travel destination continues to create local value far from packed summer weekends and keeps Bend a vibrant place to live.
Do you know of a project or an organization that could use some support creating a new arts and culture event or getting the word out about one that already exists? The Bend Cultural Tourism Fund might be a great fit. Learn more or apply today at culture.visitbend.com.
And to all the creatives out there, thank you for doing what you do and for dreaming up the inclusive experiences that make Bend home. We’d like to help