Funding of £65m set to support culture and major events sector

Funding worth £65m to support culture and major events has been set out by the Scottish Government.

The financial package was confirmed on Monday by Scotland’s culture secretary Angus Robertson.

It is aimed at helping to protect the livelihoods of those working in the sector, with restrictions having caused many events to be shut down over the festive period.

A total of £31.5m will be allocated for cultural businesses, organisations, venues and independent cinema support, and grassroots venues.

National performing companies will be given £2m to help mitigate Christmas losses and touring.

Freelancers are to be handed a sum of £10m, whilst there is £19.8m for the events sector, and £1.7m for museums, galleries and heritage.

Culture secretary Angus Robertson said: “The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is once again causing disruption and uncertainty in the culture and events sector, who have already been hit so hard by its impact.

“We have been engaging with the sector about the impact of the Omicron variant and we are fully committed to supporting culture and events while they recover from the impact of the Covid.

“And we are aware of just how important they are to Scotland, and indeed the wider recovery from this pandemic.

“These additional funds will help protect the livelihoods of the people working in the sector and allow us to give further support to freelancers, culture organisations, venues and our national performing companies.”

Creative Scotland’s chief executive Iain Munro welcomed the increased funding made available.

“We are very grateful for this significant increase in emergency funding from the Scottish Government which reflects the severity of the challenges being faced by Scotland’s culture sector,” he said.

“Our Cancellation Fund for Creative Freelancers is live, with applications open from January 6, and more information on support for organisations and venues will follow as soon as possible.”

VisitScotland director of events Paul Bush added: “The Scottish Government’s commitment of £19.8m for Scotland’s events sector is welcome news as the industry continues to deal with the latest challenges presented by the pandemic and the Omicron variant.

“EventScotland is currently working with the Scottish Government and the Event Industry Advisory Group (EIAG) to determine the best way of distributing the funding to ensure we get support to those in need across the sector, and details on this will be shared shortly.”