• The old Perth Girls School covered in projections for Bilya Beneath at the Perth Festival. Image by Jessica.

PERTH FESTIVAL has secured the extra council cash it wanted for 2022’s event, with Perth councillors agreeing to fund them to the same $350,000 level Fringe World gets.

Perth Festival organisers requested the extra cash to help the arts bounce back from covid, but council staff weren’t keen on bumping their funding up from the $264,000 they got last year, partly because the festival’s mostly ticketed and there were no major free events planned for 2022 (‘Covid plea for artists falls flat’, Voice, September 25).

Organisers contended that the festival would bring in some 325,000 people to liven up the city and splurge some cash around, and councillors this week agreed to toss them the full $350,000.

Fringe’s $350,000 funding, up about $101,000 from last year, was a shoe-in because their shows’ cultural diversity brings in lots of different demographics,  and has a proven track record of attendees patronising local businesses. 

Usually councillors aren’t allowed to make such big funding decisions in the caretaker period so close to October’s election, but CEO Michelle Reynolds granted them power to vote since it was urgent: 

The festivals are starting their marketing campaigns any day now and need to know how prominently to display the City of Perth logo on posters and pamphlets. $100,000 will also go to help hold the 24th World Transplant Games in Perth in 2023, a sporting competition for people who’ve had transplants, which aims to raise awareness of the organ shortage.

by DAVID BELL