The Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs Colin Brooks has announced that 346 organisations will share in $1.3 million to deliver events which celebrate and showcase the state’s diverse cultures and communities.
Grants of up to $50,000 are being provided through the Labor Government’s flagship Multicultural Festivals and Events program to organisations in metropolitan and regional areas for events held between 1 July and 31 December.
Applications for new and emerging communities were prioritised, with more than 65 per cent of the total funding allocated to organisations supporting them.
Successful grant recipients include Melbourne Bengali Association to host the Multicultural Spring Festival, the Benalla Migrants Association’s Diwali Festival, and the Afghan Women’s Organisation Victoria to support their Afghan Women’s Eid Festival.
Recipients also include at least 27 local Greek clubs and associations such as the Greek and Cypriot Social/Welfare Centre, the Federation of Messinian Organisations of Melbourne and Victoria, the Hellenic Women’s Federation of Victoria, the Society Kalamata 23 March Brotherhood Inc., the Greek Youth Generator Incorporated, the Lemnian Community of Victoria, and the Association of Greek Elderly Citizen Clubs of Melbourne & Vic Inc., among many others.
The Victorian Budget 2023/24 has also invested a further $12 million over four years in more than 25 multicultural festivals and events including the African Music and Cultural Festival, Melbourne Italian Festa, Lonsdale Greek Festival, Polish Festival, Hispanic Latin American Festival, Tamil Festival and Springvale Lunar New Year.
Since November 2014, the Labor Government has provided more than $25 million to deliver close to 10,000 multicultural festivals and events across Victoria.
“No-one does multiculturalism as well as Victoria and these wonderful events and festivals help us to celebrate the different cultures and communities that are thriving all over our vibrant state,” Mr Brooks said.
“The Multicultural Festivals and Events grants program is invaluable in supporting our state’s diverse communities, and as Minister for Multicultural Affairs I’ve been lucky enough to see just how many members of our community benefit from these shared cultural celebrations.”
