Taking a Portuguese show abroad in 2027? The state will cover 80%, up to €50,000
Portugal's 2027 programme for taking culture abroad has €1 million to share and pays up to 80% of a tour, fair, festival slot or residency outside the country, capped at €50,000 a project. Apply on gov.pt by 23:59 on 4 January. Only organisations based in Portugal for more than a year qualify, so solo artists cannot apply in their own name.
Apply / Learn moreA theatre company invited to a festival in Avignon, a publisher with a stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair, a design collective heading for a biennale: these are the trips the Portuguese state wants to help pay for in 2027. The Programme to Support the Internationalisation of Portuguese Culture 2027 has €1 million to share and takes applications on gov.pt until 23:59 on 4 January.
The money is a grant, not a loan. It covers up to 80% of eligible costs, capped at €50,000 per project, and the applicant finds the remaining 20% or more from its own income or other funding.
Who can apply for Portugal’s culture internationalisation grant?
Only private organisations headquartered in Portugal, set up more than a year before applications opened, and working under one of the listed business activity codes (CAE). In practice that takes in publishers, bookshops, film and video producers, architecture and design studios, and cultural and recreational associations, among others.
This is where plenty of people will trip up. A solo artist cannot apply in their own name, not even as a self-employed sole trader. Anyone working alone has to go through an association or company that meets the rules. Also excluded: foundations already on regular culture funding, associations made up only of public bodies, and state-owned companies.
What costs does the programme cover?
Whatever gets the project out of the country. Festival, fair and biennale fees, travel and accommodation, shipping and insurance for works and equipment, visas, venue hire, translation, promotional material, and the share of salaries and artist fees tied to the project.
It does not pay for making the work itself, buying property or vehicles, an organisation’s running costs, recoverable VAT, or the time spent writing the application. The activity has to happen abroad between 1 January and 31 December 2027.
How much can one project get?
By our sums, a project only reaches the €50,000 ceiling if it costs at least €62,500. A €20,000 tour gets at most €16,000, and the organisation covers the other €4,000.
With €1 million in the pot, there is room for 20 projects if every one took the maximum. In practice there will be more, since most will ask for less. Still, do not budget on the money before the decision: it is a competition, scored on the concrete opportunity, cultural quality, reach, expected results, capacity to deliver and how sensible the budget is.
What do you need before you submit?
A confirmed opportunity, on paper. The rules ask for an invitation, contract, selection confirmation or confirmed booking; good intentions and exploratory emails do not count. The full regulation is Aviso n.º 27192-A/2026/2 of 30 October, and the programme is run by GEPAC, the culture ministry’s strategy and planning office.
If you missed the art and territorial cohesion grants, which closed on 6 November, this is a second door, built for people who already have a stage waiting for them abroad.
Image: Pedro Ribeiro Simões / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
