The Regional Event Fund was established in 1996. The program is a mechanism to grow regional visitation by assisting events that contribute to the unique character of regional NSW to market themselves to visitors from outside of their Local Government Area.
Destination NSW manages the fund and provides support to regional events through three streams:
Incubator Event stream: New events in their first or second years can receive up to $20,000 of seed funding to support activities that are likely to establish an event as a driver of visitation.
Flagship Event stream: Emerging events running for over two years can receive grants of $20,000 to increase their profile and encourage visitation. Events that have already received the maximum of three annual grants will be eligible for grants of $30,000 over three years.
Event Development stream: Established and proven events that have previously received and completed triennial funding through the Flagship Event stream can receive grants of up to $50,000 to support growth initiatives in the event’s strategic plan.
The grants offered through the Regional Event Fund identify investment in regional events as key to growing the NSW regional visitor economy. Since its establishment the Regional Event Fund has distributed more than $14 million to more than 450 events.
Recipients
Recipients of the Regional Event Fund Incubator Event stream 2024/25
Event name | Organisation name |
---|---|
Beatlesfest | Living Eyes Pty Ltd |
Brews & Blues | Badlands Brewery Pty Ltd |
Buangla Music & Arts Festival | ORDINARY GROUP PTY LTD |
Bundanoon Folk Festival | Bundanoon Folk Festival Association Inc. |
Clearly Presents 'Land of Milk & Honey' | KIAMA MUSIC & ARTS PTY LTD |
Cobar Grey Mardi Gra | Cobar Shire Council |
Dark Sky Festival - Lord Howe Island | Danielle Nicolson T/A Love Lord Howe |
Dine in the Bines | Ryefield Enterprises Pty Ltd |
Heartbeat of the Hunter | Tocal Field Days Association |
Illuminate 2025 | Port Stephens Council |
International Women's Day Event Series | R Saunders Pty Ltd |
Let's Surf Lake Mac Pro Junior | Vintcorp Pty Limited |
MAKE GOOD Festival | Bundanon Trust |
National Freestyle Mountain Bike Championships | Greenvalleys Mountain Bike Club |
Naturellement | we are neighbourgood |
OpenField Arts Festival | OpenField Arts Festival Inc. |
Orange Rainbow Festival | Orange City Council |
Pilliga Ultra | For Wild Places Foundation Limited |
Ride Wollongong | Elite Energy Pty Ltd |
River Sounds | Gig Big Pty Ltd |
Rock'n the Brook | Muswellbrook Shire Council |
Savour The Tweed | The Tweed Tourism Company |
Shakespeare Under the Stars Newcastle | Whale Chorus Incorporated |
'Shuck & Shell', Barrington Coast Sustainable Seafood Festival | Wonderland Trader Pty Ltd |
Stranded in the Snowys | Perfect Music Events Pty Ltd |
Tamworth Barbeque Festival | Tamworth Regional Council |
The New England Garden Festival Inc | The New England Garden Festival Inc |
Ultra Trail Jervis Bay | The Trustee for R & A Australia Investment Trust t/a Ultra Trail Jervis Bay |
Winter Seasonal Harvest Food Festival | Aruma Services |
Recipients of the Regional Event Fund Flagship Event stream 2024/25
Event name | Organisation name |
---|---|
A Little Bit of Broke | Broke Fordwich Wine & Tourism Association Incorporated |
Australian Alpine Ascent (Triple AAA) | Elite Energy Pty Ltd |
Australian Surf Championships - Shortboard, Bodyboard & Para | Surfing Australia |
Bathurst Heritage Trades Trail | Bathurst Regional Council |
Casino Truck Show | Richmond Valley Council |
Cementa Festival | Cementa Inc |
EAT Festival | The EAT Fellowship Incorporated |
Festival of W | Wagga Wagga City Council |
Girrakool Blues 2025 | Girrakool Blues Foundation Limited |
Glenreagh Timber Festival | Glenreagh Timber Festival Incorporated |
Glenworth Grazing | Glenworth Valley Leisure Pty Ltd |
Gravel N Granite 2025 | The Saddlers Mountain Bike Club Tenterfield Inc |
Henty Machinery Field Days | Henty Machinery Field Days Co-operative Ltd |
It's On! Under the Gums 2024 | Goin' to Gil Weekend | Gilgandra Shire Council |
Lakeside Festival | Lakeside Festival Incorporated |
Moama Lights | Murray River Council |
Mount Panorama Punish | Tightrope Events PTY LTD |
Murray River Festival of Golf | Barooga Sports Club Limited |
Murrumbateman Field Days | Murrumbateman Community Association |
New Annual | Newcastle City Council |
Newcastle Fringe Festival | Newcastle Fringe Festival Inc |
Port Kembla Festival 2025 | ORDINARY GROUP PTY LTD |
Sawtell Chillifest | Sawtell Chamber of Commerce |
Sculptures in the Garden | Sculptures in the Garden |
Snowies Multisport Festival | Allura Pty Ltd t/a In2Adventure |
StoryFest 2025 | StoryFest Inc |
Strawberry Fields Festival | Strawberry Music Group Pty Ltd |
Subsonic Music Festival | Subsonic Music Festival Pty Ltd |
The Bay Games | Stronger Alliance Pty Ltd |
The Gum Ball | Dashville |
Tocal Field Days | Tocal Field Days Association |
Walcha Motorcycle Rally | Walcha Council |
Winter Fire Festival | TDO Limited (Trading as Orange360) |
Winter Wine Festival | Crooked River Winery Pty Ltd |
Words on the Waves Writers Festival 2025 | Words on the Waves |
Recipients of the Regional Event Fund Event Development stream 2024/25
Event name | Organisation name |
---|---|
Cobargo Folk Festival | Yuin Folk Club Inc |
Orange Wine Festival | Orange Regional Vignerons Association Incorporated |