Seaside, OR. — The City of Seaside Visitors Bureau and Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) have concluded the 2025–2026 grant cycle, awarding a combined $41,800 to support offseason events, public art, and placemaking projects across the community.
Funding requests totaled $69,650 across two grant programs designed to strengthen Seaside’s appeal as a year-round destination. The longstanding Destination Events & Programming grants opened on a rolling basis May 2, 2025, while the new Community Arts & Vitality grants program opened Oct. 2, 2025. Applications for both programs closed Dec. 5, 2025.
Destination Events & Programming Grants
Total Awarded: $25,000
This program supports events and programming that encourage overnight visitation during Seaside’s fall, winter, and spring seasons. Because awards were issued on a rolling basis, funding supported both completed and upcoming events:
- Doxies of PNW Club received $3,750 for the sixth annual DachSand dachshund beach gathering, held Sept. 5–7, 2025.
- Seaside SandFest received $3,000 for the fourth annual master-level sand sculpting event, held Sept. 11–14, 2025.
- Seaside Museum & Historical Society received $2,500 for the annual Saltmakers Return Lewis & Clark historical event, held Sept. 6–7, 2025.
- Winter Waters, a seafood-focused event series emphasizing seaweeds, shellfish, and sustainably caught Oregon fin fish, received $3,000 for its February 2026 programming.
- Seaside Downtown Development Association received $3,000 for the family-friendly Halloween Happenin’s event, held Oct. 25–26, 2025.
- Beach Books received $5,000 to enhance and market its 20th anniversary celebration held Nov. 1, 2025.
- Tsunami Skippers Jump Rope Team received $3,750 to bring the Oregon Coast Classic tournament back to Seaside on April 24–25, 2026.
- North Coast Land Conservancy received $1,000 to support an Indigenous Gathering at Circle Creek scheduled for May 1–3, 2026.
“Events are a solid driver of overnight visitation outside the summer season,” said Joshua Heineman, Tourism Marketing Director for the City of Seaside. “This longstanding grant program ensures those offseason events have support to continue thriving in the months where their impact matters most to the community.”
Community Arts & Vitality Grants
Total Awarded: $16,800 (with an additional $8,000 request pending)
The new Community Arts & Vitality grant program supports public art, placemaking, and beautification projects that enhance Seaside’s visual landscape and long-term appeal. For its inaugural cycle, the TAC awarded:
- $6,800 to the Seaside Chamber of Commerce to complete vinyl art wraps on city trash receptacles through the Trash Receptacle Art Campaign, funding the remaining 68 receptacles after 44 were completed in October 2025.
- $10,000 to the Seaside Downtown Development Association to support beautification and wayfinding improvements in the alleyway between the Avenue A public parking garage and Broadway, in coordination with the Planning Commission and adjacent property owners.
In addition, the TAC is continuing to consider an $8,000 grant request from the Necanicum Watershed Council for a mural project while site location and permissions are finalized.
“Investing in public art and placemaking shapes how people experience Seaside when they visit and live here,” Heineman said. “We look forward to these first projects and what the future of this grant program will bring to enhance Seaside’s sense of place and support downtown vitality.”
The Seaside Visitors Bureau is a department of the City of Seaside and serves as the city’s official destination marketing and management organization. The Seaside Welcome Center, located at the intersection of Highway 101 and Broadway, also operates as an official State Welcome Center in partnership with Travel Oregon.
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