£5,000 boost for Helensburgh winter festival

Ten events throughout Argyll and Bute are in line to receive grant support totalling more than £48,000 from council officials.

The Mull Rally is recommended to be the biggest beneficiary of the council’s strategic events and festivals fund, with a £15,000 award recommended.

Music festivals in Tarbert and Tiree, winter festivals in Helensburgh and Oban, Tarbert Seafood Festival and Islay Book Festival are all set to benefit to receive £5,000.

Completing the line-up are the ‘Doon The Watter’ event, ButeFest and the Oban Games.

A report detailing the recommended grant awards will go before the authority’s policy and resources committee on Thursday.

Council executive director Kirsty Flanagan said events were recovering slowly due to the cost of living crisis.

“There is no doubt that Covid, and other contributing factors, have had an unprecedented negative impact on the events and festivals sector,” she said.

“The council acted promptly to support the industry by continuing to provide SEF funding support to events over the past three years and whilst unfortunately some events did have to cancel in 2020/21 there was a resurgence in 2022/23 and the successful applicants from Rounds 4 and 4.2 (2022-2023) were able to go ahead.

“The council received a total of 18 applications across the two SEF 4 rounds and all of these events have either gone ahead or have confirmed they are scheduled to take place.

 “The events and festivals sector contributes significantly to our local economy and communities’ quality of life across Argyll and Bute, and is a key part of the economic recovery plan for the area.”

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