Festivals must wait to apply for funding
Organisers of major events and festivals in Argyll and Bute will have to wait until late October to apply for financial support from the council, councillors have decided.
A third round of applications to the authority’s Strategic Events and Festivals Fund – with a total of £90,000 available – was due to be launched on August 20.
But councillors have agreed to push the launch date back until October 22, with a closing date for applications of December 7.
Members of Argyll and Bute Council’s temporary business continuity committee (BCC) approved the date change when they meet via video link on August 13.
In a report to the meeting, executive director Kirsty Flanagan, said: ‘It is hoped that by deferring the process that the position with regard to Covid-19 and the holding of events in 2020/21 and other key event grant schemes such as EventScotland, currently suspended, will be clearer.
‘Events are faced with an unprecedented set of extraordinary and challenging circumstances brought about as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and it is anticipated that the situation will continue to be challenging.
‘It is hoped that by pushing the launch date back until the end of October that this will allow the position for 2021/22 to be a bit clearer and to ensure that the process is as fit for purpose at the time of the launch.’
In June the BCC agreed that grants already approved for events which have since had to be cancelled this year due to the pandemic could be carried over until 2021.