FUNDING has been made available for groups involved in the arts who want to apply to be part of the Glasgow 2018 European Championships’ cultural festival.

The fund of £750,000 has opened to artists, arts organisations and groups ahead of Festival 2018 which is part of the biggest sporting event hosted in Scotland since the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Glasgow 2018, which is co-hosted with Berlin, is a multi-sport event to be staged from August 2 to 12, 2018.

It brings together the existing European Championships for Aquatics, Cycling, Gymnastics, Rowing and Triathlon along with a new Golf team championships. Berlin will host Athletics.

More than 3,000 of the best athletes on the continent will compete in 12 venues across Scotland including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, North Lanarkshire and Perth & Kinross.

The Festival 2018 Fund aims to deliver a programme of broad cultural expression ranging from grassroots initiatives to large scale international projects to involve talent from across Scotland and deliver a programme with something for everyone.

Applications are invited from all art-forms including music, visual art, theatre, dance, film, literature and performance to showcase the best of Scotland’s cultural offer.

Glasgow’s George Square and the Merchant City Festival will be at the heart of Festival 2018 alongside communities close to the venue areas.

Leader of Glasgow City Council Susan Aitken said: “Festival 2018 will showcase and celebrate the very best of Glaswegian and Scottish culture.

“Our city has the greatest concentration of creative industries in Scotland, with more than 5,000 people employed in the cultural sector directly and more than 25,000 employed in the arts and creative industries more widely.

“This fund reflects our commitment to that sector and will help deliver a programme of activities at Glasgow’s iconic George Square; the Merchant City Festival, and many more venues across the city next year.”

The fund opened yesterday and will close on September 6.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “The European Championships 2018 Cultural Festival offers an excellent platform to strengthen connections both at home and internationally. Scotland has a reputation for being a vibrant and culturally-rich nation and everyone here for the Championships will be able to sample some of this for themselves.”

Applications can be made at www.glasgow2018.com/festival2018/fund. Tickets for events are on sale and can be purchased from www.glasgow2018.com/tickets.