Council supports event organisers and community groups to deliver events, festivals, sporting celebrations and conferences across the City, which benefit the community and support the outcomes of Council's Event and Festival Strategy and Action Plan 2019-2024(PDF, 4MB)
The program aims to fund meaningful, creative and high-quality events for our community and visitors.
Council's Event Funding Program is open now to enable event organisers an opportunity to start planning beyond the pandemic and into the recovery phase. Council will not support any events to proceed until the Federal Government and NSW Health have lifted social distancing rules. Due to the unknown timeframe about when events and social distancing rules will be lifted, the Event Funding Program will be flexible in the assessment process around delivery timeframe, dependent on official advice at the time.
Funding is prioritised for events and festivals that:
- celebrate community and Lake Macquarie's unique culture and identity
- assist in building diverse and economically strong communities
- are attractive to visitors
- are engaging, surprising and entertaining
We accept applications twice a year, in June and October, across three categories:
Round one applications 2020
Funding category |
Round one applications open/close |
Outcome known |
Proposed event date |
Community events |
22 April - 20 May 2020 |
22 June
|
October 2020* - July 2021
|
Local events and celebrations |
22 April - 20 May 2020 |
22 June |
October 2020* - July 2021
|
Sponsored events and festivals |
22 April - 20 May 2020 |
22 June
|
January 2021* - June 2022
|
* Subject to COVID-19 and physical distancing requirements
Round two applications 2020
Funding category |
Round two applications open/close |
Outcome known |
Proposed event date |
Community events |
1 October - 1 November 2020 |
25 November
|
January - October 2021
|
Local events and celebrations |
1 October - 1 November 2020 |
25 November
|
January - October 2021
|
Sponsored events and festivals |
1 October - 1 November 2020 |
25 November
|
March 2021 - December 2022
|
Here's how to apply: