- Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events
Festivals across Victoria have received a major boost thanks to the latest round of support provided through the Andrews Labor Government’s $20 million Regional Events Fund.
From Australia’s largest LGBTIQ regional festival to rose gardens in Morwell, regional Victoria’s calendar of events has something for everyone, attracting thousands of visitors to towns big and small each week.
The Regional Events Fund is helping rural and regional towns across Victoria secure strong calendars of events which create local jobs and provide entertainment options for community members.
Three events have won backing in the latest round of funding:
- ChillOut Festival – Australia’s largest LGBTIQ regional festival is a significant driver of tourism in the Daylesford and Macedon region. This celebration of love, equality and creativity will run from 5-9 March 2020.
- The Vine Burn – At the heart of this new winter arts festival scheduled for 27 June 2020 at Mornington Racecourse will be a sculpture/bonfire constructed from vines sourced from peninsula wineries.
- Morwell International Rose Garden Festival – The festival featuring workshops, music, stalls and children’s activities will expand both its footprint and duration, moving to a weekend event on 16-17 November 2019.
More visitors than ever are choosing to spend time in regional Victoria.
Total visitors for the 12 months to the end of March topped 57 million, up 9.5 per cent, while spending rose 10.4 per cent to $11 billion. Victoria’s visitor economy supports more than 214,000 jobs, according to the most recent data, including 86,500 in regional Victoria.
These results comes on the back of the Labor Government’s investment in tourism which has helped deliver more than 200 events across our regions, and major campaigns including the highly-successful regional promotion Your Happy Space.
As noted by Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Martin Pakula
“Events like ChillOut, Vine Burn and Morwell’s rose garden festival provide terrific entertainment for members of the local community and compelling reasons for people to visit regional Victoria.”
“It’s great that we can help local people showcase their ingenuity, innovation and creativity. It also helps keep our cafes, restaurants, hotels and motels full – and that means jobs.”
