The Economic Opportunity and Development Division is excited to announce the opening of applications for its Cambridge Nightlife Industry and Thriving Entertainment Spaces (NITES) grant pilot.
Donor Name: Economic Opportunity and Development Division
State: Massachusetts
City: Cambridge
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/30/2025
Size of the Grant: Less than $1000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The Cambridge NITES grant is aimed at supporting the nightlife and entertainment industry in Cambridge by providing up to $5,000 awards for outdoor, nighttime events during the month of June.
The Cambridge NITES grant pilot is intended to highlight the success of Cambridge’s nightlife and entertainment industry in its covid-19 recovery by bringing 4-5 nighttime events across the city.
Through Cambridge NITES, EODD hopes to position the city as a center for nightlife and entertainment in the region by supporting clubs, bars, live entertainment venues and performance spaces. In its inaugural year, the grant pilot is also meant to encourage residents and visitors alike to explore all that Cambridge’s nightlife has to offer.
Eligibility Criteria
All interested Cambridge businesses and nonprofit performance organizations are encouraged to apply. However, Cambridge NITES will prioritize applicants in the following manner:
- Tier 1: Existing nightlife and entertainment venues
- Tier 2: Bars and restaurants currently offering live entertainment
- Tier 3: Existing non-profit performance organizations
- Tier 4: Bars and restaurant not currently offering live entertainment but are interested in providing live entertainment in the future.
Requirements
- All proposed events will be held in public spaces.
- All proposed events must be free and open to the public and held outside between 7-10 PM (events can be shorter than 3 hours but should be held in this window).
- Awardees will be responsible for producing the approved event before June 30, 2025.
- The EOD Division will support awardees with permitting for events in the public way.
- The EOD Division will assist in marketing Cambridge NITES as a whole; further promotion of specific events will be left to the discretion of the awardees.
- All awardees are required to submit a post-grant evaluation in order to inform future iterations of Cambridge NITES. EODD also requests that awardees share photos and other media with the City of Cambridge.
Potential Event Locations
The purpose of Cambridge NITES is to support nightlife and entertainment throughout the city and have multiple events in different neighborhoods and areas. EODD will assist selected grantees in permitting for these events. A tentative list of event locations is below (these are subject to change based on ongoing conversations with property owners):
- Brattle Square
- East Cambridge Court/Yard
- Lafayette Park
- Palmer Street
- Porter Square
- South Plaza (Kendall)
- Termeer Square (Kendall)
- Urban Park (UP) Roof Garden
- Vellucci Plaza.
For more information, visit Economic Opportunity and Development Division.
