Local events to benefit from Council grant funding
Published on 26 August 2022
The City of Launceston has allocated more than $157,000 in grant and sponsorship funding to a range of Launceston events over the coming year.
At yesterday's ordinary meeting, Councillors approved a request to provide $15,000 in Special Event funding to the organisers of the upcoming Longford GPX Cruise Night, which will see a plethora of vehicles of all descriptions displayed over two nights in Launceston's CBD to coincide with the Longford Grant Prix Expo.
The main event will celebrate Longford's rich motorsport history and beyond via an immersive vehicle family-friendly environment in Longford's town centre, showcasing the very best of Australian collector cars and bikes, some of which are the rarest in the world, as well as the next generation concept electric and hydrogen-powered machinery.
For Launceston fans, organisers are planning to host a cruise night and community display over two nights in the Launceston CBD.
In the Small Event Sponsorship category, Councillors granted $48,750 for a wide range of community focused events, including funding for the Soggy Bottom Cardboard Box Boat Regatta hosted by the Rotary Club Youngtown, Brixhibition Launceston 2023, the Relay for Life fundraiser as well as the 2023 Million Paws Walk.
Councillors also approved grants totaling almost $94,000 in round two of the Major Event Sponsorship category, including funding for Encore Theatre's Priscilla Queen the Desert performance, the Australian Musical Theatre Festival, the Basin Concert, Launceston Competitions, A Festival called PANAMA 2023 and the Launceston Ukulele Jamboree.
City of Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said he was particularly excited by the sheer diversity of community events the Council was able to assist across a broad range of event categories.
"I'm always amazed by the ingenuity and dedication of our incredible community groups, who put together such a broad range of different events - whether it's a car show, a walking festival or ukulele jamboree," Mayor van Zetten said.
"These events offer so much to our community and the volunteers and groups who organises these events should be commended for all the incredible hard work they put in.
"They also showcase a wonderful community spirit and resourcefulness in the way they develop their ideas and bring them to fruition.
"Many of the events on this list today are genuinely iconic events on the Launceston calendar and I'm delighted that the Council is able to support them in a way that will hopefully help cement their futures going forward after such a difficult past two or so years through the COVID pandemic."