Huge. Music. News.

The NSW Government has just announced the new Event Saver Fund – injecting a whopping $43 million into the NSW events/music industry. The fund which was announced yesterday provides financial relief for major events and festivals that have been cancelled or significantly disrupted by COVID Public Health Orders.

For the music industry, this funding ensures that huge events like last weekend’s Grapevine Fest in the Hunter Valley (which unfortunately had to be scrapped four days out due to changes in restrictions), has the resources to postpone the event instead of cancelling, protecting the thousands of jobs events like Grapevine create. 

“Major event organisers will, from today, be able to pay suppliers, staff and recover other costs where an event is cancelled or significantly disrupted as a result of public health orders imposed as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Now, NSW event planners and artists can go hard on planning some incredible live events with the added security of knowing people won’t be ‘in the red’ if events get cancelled for reasons outside of organisers control.

JMC's Sydney Head of Entertainment Business Management Pat Maloney said "The Event Saver Fund is a welcome and necessary financial support grant scheme from the NSW government. Up to S10 million can be applied for by larger festivals such as Bluesfest and Splendour in the Grass throughout 2022 to help absorb any potential losses or issues due to COVID. This should give these important events much more confidence in 2022."

Minister for the Arts, Ben Franklin when announcing the new funding said that “Major events provide tremendous social benefits to the community, bringing us together to enjoy live performances.” This funding further recognises the social impact The arts and music industry provides Australian society as well as the huge revenue events like Music and Culture Festivals bring to local artists, food vendors, security companies, production crew, film makers, audio engineers, marketers and importantly, the money that events inject into regional areas in NSW who have been hit hard due to the lack of tourism during recent lockdowns. This funding prioritises these incredibly important industries and gives them the opportunity to replan and re-inject money into the arts and tourism space once it is safe to do so.

JMC Sydney Head of Music, Kemo Bunguric reacted to the news saying: 

“It is great to hear that the government will provide a 43 million dollars funding pool where musicians and other businesses can be compensated if covid restrictions cause the cancellation of an event. Musicians spend a lot of time preparing for the performance and having the knowledge that support will be available if an event is canceled will go a long way in supporting their income revenue and also their mental health during the current phase of covid.”

Read more about this new funding opportunity for NSW events here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/event-saver-fund