Last week, the Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Colin Brooks, announced the opening of the next round of the Multicultural Festivals and Events Program funding for communities to deliver events between January 1 and June 30, 2024.
Grants of up to $50,000 are available to organisations in metropolitan areas to host events that celebrate and showcase culture and strengthen Victoria’s vibrant ethnic and cultural diversity.
He also announced over $1 million to support multicultural festivals and events in regional Victoria. A statement from the Victorian government said that regional multicultural organisations now have “the opportunity to celebrate and share culture and will drive more visitors to the regions, with no cap on funding requests.”
Minister for Multicultural Affairs Colin Brooks said he was “proud of the role the Multicultural Festival and Events program has played”, adding it continues to support Victorian festivals and events “that showcase our state’s dynamic cultural diversity.”
“I fully encourage organisations to apply for this funding that will help bring your events to life, as these events are contributors to our multicultural spirit and the richness of community life here in Victoria”, Brooks said.
According to the statement in 2023/24, the Andrews Labor government “invested” an additional $12 million over four years in more than 25 multicultural festivals and events, including the Lonsdale Antipodes Greek Festival, one of the largest Greek arts and cultural festivals outside Greece.
The festival presents international Greek artists as well as a street panigyri that attracts up to 150,000 people to Lonsdale Street over a weekend.
Along with the annual Greek festival, a range of diverse festivals funded include the African Music and Cultural Festival, Melbourne Italian Festa, Hispanic Latin American Festival, Tamil Festival and Springvale Lunar New Year.
The statement said that since 2014, “more than $25 million have been provided by the Victorian government to deliver close to 10,000 multicultural festivals and events across Victoria.”
Applications are open until Friday, 27 October.
For more information, visit multicultural-festivals-and-events-program.
