• Funding for regional events announced as part of Arts Activities in Regional Communities
• Thirteen local government and arts groups to share in $680,311 to stage events and activities
• Funding adds to vibrant Western Australian arts scene

A writers' festival, multicultural celebrations, a photography project, and a pub full of sea shanties are among the activities funded in the latest round of regional arts grants.

The Arts Activities in Regional Communities (AARC) funding program is a competitive grants program delivered as part of the Regional Arts and Cultural Investment Program (RACIP).

It provides funding for projects that support participation in, access to, and the creation of arts and culture in regional Western Australia.

The Creative Projects category awards up to $60,000 in funding to support arts and cultural activities and creative developments in regional areas.

The Creative and Cultural Planning category awards up to $50,000 in funding to support regional local governments in developing creative and cultural plans or revising existing plans.

In this round, one Creative and Cultural Planning and 12 Creative Projects applications were recommended. The 13 recipients will share in $680,311 of funding.

The recipients are:

• Albany Shanty Fest for the Albany International Folk 'N' Shanty Festival – $20,728
• Baiyungu Aboriginal Corporation for JNF25 Programs Creative Community Activities and Workshops – $58,500
• Bunbury Regional Theatre for the BREC First Nations Artist Retreat – $60,000
• Camera Story for Women in the Arts – $59,187
• City of Greater Geraldton for the Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival 2024 – $27,550
• City of Karratha for the Red Earth Arts Festival 2024 – $60,000
• Community Arts Network Western Australia for Legacies – $60,000
• Perth Symphony Orchestra for Green Shoots Moora – $60,000
• Shire of Carnarvon for the Gascoyne Regional Arts Plan – $50,000 (Creative and Cultural Planning)
• Shinju Matsuri for the Shinju Matsuri Festival – $60,000
• Theatre Kimberley for East re-meets West, a Sandfly Circus residency and performance – $59,577
• The Nannup Music Club for the Nannup Music Festival 2025 – $45,000
• Wheatbelt Arts & Events for the York Festival – $59,769

Comments attributed to Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman:

"These funded projects reveal just how diverse, exciting, and fun WA's regional arts scene is.

"The Cook Labor Government is proud to encourage the development and growth of a vibrant arts and creative industries sector.

"This funding will support events which are well-loved by their communities and visitors alike, such as Geraldton's Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival 2024, Broome's Shinju Matsuri Festival, the Nannup Music Festival, the York Festival, and The Albany International Folk 'N' Shanty Festival.

"It also supports other interesting projects like Camera Story, a photography, music, and songwriting project for young Kimberley women in the Mowanjum Community, and Legacies, a storytelling project celebrating the personal histories of Elders from the Goldfields region through oral history recordings and photographs.

"Investment in the arts is essential to ensure Western Australians have ongoing access to arts and culture activities, and we remain committed to supporting the creation and presentation of events like these."