Major festival news for western Sydney – and that's just the start
The government's three-year strategic plan for the region is to be announced at a gathering of the region's arts leaders at Blacktown Arts Centre on Tuesday.
Front and centre of the new funding plans is development of a home-grown festival celebrating the region's diversity and creative spirit that could potentially rival Vivid, South by Southwest Sydney, or even the Sydney Festival.
Campbelltown's Fisher's Ghost Festival and Parramatta Lanes are among the region's longest-running festivals, while Parramasala, celebrating south Asian arts, was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID and has yet to return. In opposition, Labor asserted Parramasala should be funded ahead of the Logies.
'In short, the vision is to create a thriving and inclusive creative ecosystem in western Sydney that celebrates its diverse communities, drives cultural innovation and delivers social and economic value for everyone,' Arts Minister John Graham will say.
'To get there the key priorities are unlocking investment, putting First Nations' culture at the centre, growing creative careers, strengthening creative ecosystems, better showcasing off western Sydney artists, and unlocking more cultural spaces.'
This week's launch of the Western Sydney Plan for Arts, Culture and Creative Industries comes 25 years after former premier Bob Carr launched Labor's first western Sydney cultural strategy in 1999.
The new $5 million funding commitment will be met entirely from cost savings made to Create NSW, the state's art agency, which is facing the loss of one-quarter of its workforce under a major restructure.
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