Minister for Major Events
Media Release
Territory’s iconic events industry booms
6 May 2024
The Lawler Labor Government continues to support a wide variety of events each year, from national sporting fixtures, to a world-class music festival and a range of community events.
The Territory calendar boasts eight major events and roughly 70 community events per year, backed by an investment of over $25 million in the last financial year from the Territory Labor Government.
This investment returned more than $130 million to the Territory’s economy in 2022/23, supported over 724 jobs and delivered over 313,000 nights stayed by visitors across the Territory.
To continue building on this success, the Lawler Labor Government has bolstered Northern Territory Major Event Company’s funding in Budget 2024/25 to $41 million, enabling major international events like the FIM World Motocross Championship to take place in Darwin in 2025.
On this weekend is one of the Territory’s biggest multicultural and most recognisable events, the Greek GleNTi. The event showcases the NT’s vibrant Greek community and visitors are expected to eat their way through an estimated 10 tonnes of food, including more than 500kg of mince for the dolmades and meatballs.
The 2024 event runs across this Saturday, 8 June and Sunday 9 June at Bicentennial Park on the Darwin Esplanade, featuring traditional Greek dancing performances, live music and visits from Cocomelon’s Cody and JJ for the kids.
Last year, the GleNTi attracted thousands of people to the Darwin Esplanade over the long weekend. Now going into its 34th year in the Territory, the major multicultural drawcard aims to continue building on its past successes.
Quotes attributed to Minister for Major Events, Brent Potter:
“Territorians young and old know the Greek GleNTi serves up the best of Greek food and culture over the long June weekend.
“It is no secret how widely loved the Territory dry season is, which is why the Lawler Labor Government will continue to back community events and put more major events on the map including the FIM World Motocross Championship coming to Darwin in 2025.
“The Lawler Labor Government delivered a budget boost of $4 million to Northern Territory Major Events Company to ensure our events calendar continues to grow over the next few years, including the addition of the FIM World Motocross Championship.”
Northern Territory Government
