Up, up and WA! Regional and remote festivals’ funding boost
8 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 6 weeks, and 17 locations across a 3000km 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 State Government's $20 million 4-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.
RACIP is delivered by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, with funding from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.