Funding Open For Grassroots Regional Events

Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast Gareth Ward MP and Member for South Coast Shelley Hancock have today announced that the NSW Government is calling for organisers of all new events planned to be held across the Illawarra and South Coast from January to June next year, to apply for grants of up to $20,000 to help attract more visitors and boost local economies.

Mr Ward said that the 2019 Incubator Event Fund offers annual grants to events in rural and regional NSW to assist in areas such as marketing, public relations, venue hire and attendee research.

“Our rural and regional communities are full of brilliant ideas and the Incubator Event Fund provides a platform to get events off the ground and up and running – events that will help enliven and kick start local economies,” he said.

“We are committed to supporting more activity across our regions because when people visit, they stay in local accommodation, buy from local shops and eat at local restaurants and cafes, putting more tourist dollars in the pockets of local businesspeople and creating more jobs,” Mr Ward said.

Mrs Hancock said that since announcing the expanded Regional Flagship Events Program in 2016, the NSW Government has provided support to almost 60 events through the Incubator Event Fund, including the local Rewind the Vines Music and Food Festival, which received $10,000 from the fund this year.

“The NSW Government is determined to turbocharge our State’s tourism sector so that regions like the South Coast benefits from our record $43 million investment in regional tourism,” she said.

“The 2019 Incubator Event Fund is available to organisers staging an event for the first or second time and applications for Round One close on 4th November, 2018.

“This is a fantastic opportunity and I strongly encourage eligible events to apply for Round One of the Incubator Event Fund so that they can receive their share of the available funding,” Mrs Hancock said.

To lodge an application and view the terms and conditions, please visit the website at: www.destinationnsw.com.au/rfep.

Round Two applications for events held between July and December 2019 will open in March next year.