The WOOL urban art festival in Covilhã secured first place nationally in the Project Grants Programme of the Directorate-General for Arts, with a final score of 92.05%. The 14th edition of the festival, scheduled for June 2027, obtained 55 thousand euros in funding, corresponding to the highest tier available in this programme, which had over 230 competing entities and a total budget of one million nine hundred and forty thousand euros to support 74 artistic projects.
The project was submitted by Mistaker Maker, responsible for organizing WOOL. The competition jury considered the project "of relevant interest," highlighting its contribution to creating "new cultural centralities" and classifying it as a "consolidated project." The evaluation valued criteria such as artistic quality and relevance, alignment with strategic objectives and specific objectives of public and cultural interest.
The WOOL 2027 programming will include 13 programmatic blocks dedicated to artistic creation and occupation of public space, community engagement, training and democratization of access to artistic enjoyment. The organization states that the festival is entirely free and aimed at a general audience, including specific actions for children, young people, inmates, families and the elderly. The programme features internationally renowned visual and interdisciplinary artists, as well as local emerging artists.
The 55 thousand euros from DGArts represent only 19% of the festival's total budget, which also has support from the Municipality of Covilhã and various private and public entities and companies. In 2025, WOOL directly invested approximately 170 thousand euros in the municipality, corresponding to 85% of its budget. Beyond WOOL, other cultural projects in Covilhã, such as New Hand Lab, Kayzer Ballet, the "Montanha – A Permanência da Matéria" project and Cigarra, also had their applications approved by DGArts, totaling over 150 thousand euros in direct support for artistic projects in the municipality.
