Applications for the second round of the ACT Government’s Amp It Up! fund open today for local businesses or organisations that operate live music and performance venues.
The fund was established last year to support local small to medium live music venues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 by offsetting some of the costs associated with performance programming and promotion.
“Amp It Up! will continue to give a much-needed boost to venues, local performing artists and technicians, and will provide Canberra audiences an exciting live music and performance calendar from July to December in 2022,” said Minister for the Arts Tara Cheyne.
“Following the success of last year’s Amp It Up! which saw almost $800,000 shared across venues supporting gigs and reviving our night-time economy, I am excited to see what this second round will mean for the local live music and performance scene and in Canberra.”
Amp It Up! was well received by the local music industry last year and venues worked hard to develop a forward program of gigs – benefiting venues, artists, workers and audiences. 23 popular local venues across the city were successful under the program, including Transit Bar and Smith’s Alternative, stalwarts of the sector and champions for new and emerging artists.
Quote attributable to Daniel Ballantyne, Director, Music ACT
“MusicACT is excited to again work with the ACT Government in delivering Amp It Up! round 2. Amp It Up! round 1 for many venues kept them from going under, for artists it was their only live performance opportunity throughout the roller coaster ride of lockdowns. The pandemic’s negative impact is not over, and while audiences are returning, venues booking artists are still making tough decisions. Amp It Up! funding means live music venues can guarantee support for artists and confidently build audiences. Get out and see live music!”
Quote attributable to Joel Tyrrell, Operations Manager, Transit Bar
“Transit Bar was incredibly fortunate to be supported by the first round of Amp It Up! It provided vital support for us to program a series of quality live music performances, and a platform for our industry to continue rebuilding.”
Small to medium venues from across the city can apply for a minimum of $5,000 and up to $45,000. Applications close at 5pm on Monday 30 May 2022, so venues are encouraged to get their submissions in soon.
