- Eight organisations share $360,234 to fund culture and arts activities at regional and remote festivals
- Regional and Remote Festivals Fund provides up to $50,000 for eligible initiatives
- Funding for activities from Albany to Karratha
Eight organisations will share in more than $360,000 to bring arts and cultural activities to festivals in regional and remote Western Australia for 2023.
The Regional and Remote Festivals Fund makes up to $50,000 available to eligible initiatives that increase arts and cultural activity, provide employment opportunities, and contribute to tourism growth in regional and remote WA.
Arts Margaret River received $50,000 to support the delivery of the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, including the Young Readers and Writers Program and a new one-day literary event in Busselton.
In the Gascoyne the multi-arts festival, Gascoyne Travelling Arts, spans six weeks, and 17 locations across a 3,000 kilometre touring circuit of the remote region. Featuring local, national, and international artists, the festival received $49,995 to support its activities which celebrate the people, history, and places unique to the region.
Other funded projects are:
- Nannup Music Festival - Artistic Program - $40,000
- City of Karratha - Best Coast program for the Red Earth Arts Festival 2023 - $49,501
- Bunbury Fringe 2023 - $48,493
- City of Greater Geraldton - Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival 2023 - $22,525
- Fremantle Biennale - First Lights Gracetown - $49,770
- Matthew Yates - Karnidale 2023 and The Lunar Circus International Training Project - $49,950
Since 2019 the Regional and Remote Festivals Fund has injected more than $1.4 million into 30 festivals and activities across regional and remote WA.
The program forms part of the McGowan Government's $20 million four-year Regional Arts and Cultural Investment Program (RACIP), which acknowledges the importance of culture and the arts programs in areas of WA that may otherwise miss out.
The RACIP is delivered by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, with funding from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
For more information about programs that fund regional WA communities, visit the DLGSC website.
Comments attributed to Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman:
"The Regional and Remote Festivals Fund provides fantastic opportunities for people in regional and remote Western Australia to experience and share some of the very best in WA's culture and the arts scene.
"During the past four years, the RACIP has supported more than 30 festivals, enabling people in regional and remote communities to participate in arts and cultural activity in their home towns and communities."
Comments attributed to Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
"The McGowan Government acknowledges that communities in regional and remote WA should have similar opportunities to access culture and the arts as those in metropolitan areas.
"The Regional and Remote Festivals Fund, through the hugely successful RACIP, will bring these opportunities to more people, in more regional centres."
Culture and the Arts Minister's office - 6552 5400
Regional Development Minister's office - 6552 6200
