Local Canberra festivals share in $200,000

087/11

Today in the Legislative Assembly I announced thirteen local organisations that will share in over $200,000 in funding to assist them to deliver festivals and celebrations around Canberra in 2012.

Events funded under the ACT Festival Fund for 2012 range from film, music and community festivals through to dance and gaming events. Successful Festival Fund grant recipients include:

• Cancon 2012 – Festival of Gaming, 27-29 January 2012
• Corinbank Festival, 2-4 March 2012
• Canberra Carp-Out, 18 March 2012
• Canberra Harvest Festival, 31 March 2012
• Weekend of Ideas, 31 March and 1 April 2012
• Canberra International Music Festival, 10-20 May 2012
• Short seasons film festival, May and December 2012
• Kulturebreak United Expo, 18-30 June 2012
• Improvention 2012, 30 June to 7 July 2012
• Canberra Short Film Festival, 14-18 September 2012
• Canberra International Film Festival, 24 October to 4 November 2012
• The Woden Valley Festival/Woden Alive, 27 October to 4 November 2012
• Tuggeranong Festival, 25-27 November 2012

The ACT Festival Fund application process for 2012 was once again very competitive with 31 applications and a total request of more than $650,000, with only $220,000 available in the fund.

All applications are carefully assessed by an independent committee against established and publically available criteria and guidelines – this includes the opportunities offered to the Canberra community to participate in the event.

That’s why I also announced in the Legislative Assembly today that there will be a second application round for community groups to re-apply for the funds left over from the first application round of the 2012 ACT Festival Fund.

All applications in this round, where around $20,000 will be allocated, will again be assessed by an independent committee and I encourage community groups re-applying for this funding to seek pre-meetings with Events Unit staff before submitting their applications.

This is an important process for applicants to ensure they know what information and level of detail to provide in their application for funding.

The ACT Government are committed to supporting quality events that add to the cultural life of Canberra making this a great town to live in.