Special event grants are TDC grants awarded to applicants that are hosting or organizing an event in Duval County that are open to the public, although there may be a charge for ticketed admission, where many tourists to Duval County are brought together to watch or participate in an event of limited and fixed duration from a few hours to a few days, and not part of a regular series or occurring more frequently than once a year. Section 125.0104,
Florida Statues, defines
tourist as a person who participates in trade or recreation activities outside the county of his or her permanent residence or who rents or leases transient accommodations.
Examples of special events include one-time or annual special sporting events, concerts, festivals, air or water events, motorized events, large congresses, trade or fashion shows, art events or displays, exhibitions, or the like open to the public. Special events do not include invitation only events, private events, member only events, fundraising events, or corporate and trade events. Further, special events shall not include commercial events whose primary purpose is for the organizer to sell a product (i.e., boat or car show).
Applications must be completed and submitted in the manner prescribed herein as required by the TDC. Special event grant applications shall be submitted to the TDC for review. Grant submission deadlines will be posted on the TDC webpage.
Applications must also be submitted to Laurie Kopstad with Visit Jacksonville via email (lkopstad@visitjacksonville.com) for review of applicant’s marketing plan and for an Event Impact Summary a minimum of 5 business days prior to the published deadline for submission of the application to the TDC.
No application will be considered by the TD
C unless the completed application is received at least 30 days prior to the TDC meeting at which it is to be considered. Applications may be posted on the TDC webpage and shall become public records upon submission. There are 2 grant application periods throughout the year to have applications considered before the TDC. To view the TDC meeting schedule for grant consideration dates and other related information click
here.
Section 25.0104(5)(a)(3),
Florida Statutes, requires that for grants to be awarded for a special event, that special event must have one of its main purposes be the attraction of tourists to the County. An applicant who fails to demonstrate this threshold requirement shall be ineligible to receive special event grant funding. The questions on the application shall be answered for the TDC to determine if the special event meets this threshold requirement. Only if the answers demonstrate that one of the main purposes of the event is the attraction of tourists and the number of tourists and/or room nights guaranteed and who attend meet the tiered requirements below, a grant be awarded; and if awarded, paid to recipient upon proper submission of reimbursement documents.
Special event grants shall be limited to the following grant tiers:
- Maximum $250,000 per event award: These awards are for events designed to attract 25,000 or more tourists to Duval County, 10,000 or more room nights in Duval County, or a combination of tourists and room nights as outlined in the matrix below.
- Maximum $100,000 per event award: These awards are for events designed to attract a minimum of 5,000 tourists to Duval County using publicly or privately owned venues.
The TDC Special Event Grant Application can be found below. Please open the PDF document and complete the form electronically. Answers are limited to the space provided on the application.
The TDC Special Event Grant Application Score Sheet can be found below. This document is provided to applicants for informational purposes only.
*
Tourists refers to visitors from outside the 150-mile radius of Duval County boundary.
Close