The Downtown Development Board's Special Event Grants Program supports diverse arts and cultural opportunities to encourage a variety of entertainment within the area. The purpose of this program is to provide funding through grants to support events.
Events held in the downtown area serves to bring together a wide variety of people, both locally and nationally, to experience engaged programming that will help to build social connections and strengthen the economic development of the area.
Applications for events scheduled between December 2025 - May 2026 will be accepted from July 1 through August 1, 2025, until 11:59 p.m. All submissions will be reviewed after the application period closes.
A
special events permit is required when events involving more than 100 people will take place on city property or is held on other property which impacts adjacent streets, sidewalks, or rights-of-way. A Special Event Permit is the official document authorizing the performance of an event on city property. To obtain this permit, applicants must
submit a completed application, meet requirements, and submit a non-refundable application fee to the City of Orlando.