Regional event fund set for million-dollar boost

The Marshall Liberal Government is putting regional jobs first, thanks to an additional $1 million in regional event funding – set to spur new and innovative events and to grow existing events right across the state.

“This expanded regional event fund is in direct response to what regional communities need as they recover from the impacts of COVID-19 – boosting spending and jobs right across our great state", Premier Marshall said.
“With the latest data showing 48 cents in every tourism dollar is spent in our regions, regional tourism is playing a key role in the recovery of our state’s visitor economy.
“This million-dollar boost for regional events aims to keep that momentum going well into 2021 and beyond and is exactly what the industry has told us they need to attract more visitors across more events throughout the entire year, and importantly – get more people into work.”
The 2021-22 Regional Event Fund has four categories:
• Significant Event Funding (from $50,000) – up to three years’ funding for new large-scale signature events that have the potential to be nationally or internationally significant and which provide substantial visitation, media and profiling opportunities and economic impact for South Australia.
• Established Event Funding ($20,000 to $50,000) – up to three years’ funding for events that can demonstrate a strong track record of growth and a strategy for event innovation
• Development Event Funding ($10,000 to $20,000)– up to three years’ funding for events that demonstrate potential for growth and development
• Emerging Event Funding ($5,000 to $10,000) – up to two years’ funding for events that are 1-3 years young, with a focus on smaller community events.
Applications to the Significant Event Funding category will be accepted year-round, with funding available from 1 July 2021. All other categories will have two intake rounds, with round one opening Sunday 24 January and round two opening in August 2021. The funding rounds in 2021/22 will support events held from 1 September 2021 to 30 August 2022.
The new and improved Regional Event Fund also covers a range of funding uses such as the
engagement of short-term specialised personnel, hire of temporary infrastructure, strategic plan
development and marketing costs.
The South Australian Tourism Commission, through Events South Australia, has worked with
regional event organisers through the pandemic to help get their events back on the calendar and help them navigate how to host COVID-safe events. The expanded Fund directly meets the needs identified by regional event organisers to further support their recovery, and offer greater opportunity for them to host world-class events.
Criteria and funding guidelines are available at: https://tourism.sa.gov.au/support/regional-eventfund