City of Sydney announces funding for three cultural events

The City of Sydney has announced its financial support of three of the city’s major cultural events.

VIVID Sydney will receive $250,000 per year in cash and value-in-kind for the next three years. The 18-day celebration of lights, music and ideas is now in its sixth year. Taking over Sydney’s antipodean winter, VIVID is now a harmonised hub for both investors and artists, having attracted over 800,000 people in 2013.

Sydney’s largest alternative arts event Sydney Fringe Festival – which runs for three weeks every September – will receive $450,000 from the City over the same period. Also celebrating its fifth anniversary last year, the independent festival attracted over 46,000 people.

Walsh Bay Arts Festival, which takes place for the first time this December to encompass the heritage district’s 12 performing arts companies, will receive $30,000 in cash and $20,000 value-in-kind from the City. The festival is part of the City’s Walsh Bay Arts Precinct Master Plan to consolidate a vision for Walsh Bay as one of Sydney’s premier arts and cultural precincts.

The cash injections are part of the City’s collaborative efforts with the NSW Government to identify and reward events that attract almost a million local, interstate and international visitors annually.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore told TMN, “Our sponsorship of these events helps support artists, gives residents the opportunity to see great artworks and performances, and attracts visitors to Sydney.

“Festivals like these inject tens of millions of dollars into the local economy each year, which is part of the reason the City is so keen to see them succeed.”