Cumbria’s longest-running trade show is giving the organisers of much-loved visitor events a helping hand with their marketing, with the launch of its 2025 grants scheme. 


The Lakes Hospitality Trade Show 2025 is awarding marketing grants of up to £2,500 to event organisers across the county as part of its commitment to re-directing the proceeds of the annual show back into the local economy.
Grant recipients from this year’s show included Muncaster Sausage Festival, the Westmorland Dales Festival, Amblefest Beer and Music Festival and Keswick Film Festival.  
All have benefitted from Cumbria Tourism’s marketing and communications expertise including. 
To qualify for the 2025 funding, applicants must be planning an event between March 2025 and February 2026 somewhere in Cumbria. 
As part of the application process, they will be asked to complete a short form demonstrating how the event will achieve significant visitor impact for the area and benefit the wider Cumbrian economy. 
The successful applicants will be announced early in the New Year.

Each will benefit from a cash gift to promote their event using Cumbria Tourism’s marketing channels.
One of the directors of Amblefest, Alex Mauro, said: “The support we received really enhanced this year’s PR and marketing activity. As well as supporting our social media activity, we received some excellent press coverage both locally and nationally, had interviews on local radio and engaged with influencers. Pre-event ticket sales doubled over the previous year. All of which contributed to an extremely successful event.”
Director of Keswick Film Festival Ian Payne said: “We know quite a lot about film and can stage a great event, but we aren’t that good at getting the message out to attract new audiences. 
“The assistance we’ve had has already given us some excellent pointers as to what we should be doing, particularly on social media. We are looking forward to seeing the final outcome of this work next March, which should result in greater ticket sales and most importantly, some new faces in the cinema.”
Chair of the Westmorland Dales Festival, Vivienne Littlefair added: “We thoroughly enjoyed working with Cumbria Tourism, and their support gave a real boost to our fledgling festival. We had expert input on social media and help wherever else we needed it; and their media reach was invaluable, ensuring widespread coverage. The event was a huge success and has set us in good stead for future Westmorland Dales Festivals.”
Director of the Lakes Hospitality Association, James Tasker, concluded: “We want to hear from a range of event organisers throughout Cumbria who can demonstrate how additional funding will help support local jobs and communities. We hope as many applicants as possible will put themselves forward.”
The application process for grants is now live, with a deadline of 9am on Monday, December 2.