Gold Coast Multicultural Festival cancelled after it failed to attract funding from the Gold Coast City Council.
The future of a popular Gold Coast festival is in jeopardy after it failed to get funding from the Gold Coast City Council
Gold Coast
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THE 13th year of the Gold Coast Multicultural Festival proved to be unlucky for many, with the event cancelled after it failed to attract funding from the Gold Coast City Council.
Festival founder Ben Brauer said the future of the city-wide event was now it jeopardy, despite the fact it usually hosts 185 international performances and 75 stallholders.
He said last year it attracted 22,000 visitors, with 90 per cent of those surveyed supporting the continuation of the festival.
“A number of the performers have reached out to the association to express their disappointment with the council’s decision. Stallholders who were relying on this event for a source of income throughout these difficult times also expressed their dissatisfaction,” he said.
“We believe this to be a dreadful insult by our council to the Gold Coast’s multicultural communities.
“It is an event that the whole family can enjoy, providing an unprecedented display of southeast Queensland’s cultural diversity including international food, art, craft, and cultural information.
“Our event visitor surveys show an 83 per cent approval rate for the event not only to continue, but to be expanded.”
Scheduled to be hosted at the Broadwater Parklands in August after outgrowing its previous venue at Evandale, the event was rescheduled multiple times because of COVID-19 restrictions, but also because of delays in the council’s community grants program. It was eventually rescheduled for December 13 but never happened.
Mr Brauer said his application for funding from council was denied; he asked for $20,000 to match the State Government’s commitment over two years.
Over the years funds had been received from council, but Mr Bauer said it was “chequered” and that the citywide festival received no community grants funding in 2018 or 2019.
Mr Brauer said in order to at least do something, last month it hosted a Facebook live event so performers could showcase their talents.
“We sincerely hope that council will recognise that this is a huge mistake and we look forward to holding the event once again in 2021,” he said.
A Gold Coast City Council spokesperson said council determined the successful grant applicants awarded for round 1 at its meeting on October 27.
“Round 1 was highly competitive, with nearly $3 million in grant funding applied for, with an available budget of $286,719,” she said.
“Council awarded 38 community grant applications and 12 multiple-year funding agreements.
“Applications were scored by an independent panel who provided funding recommendations to council and all applications were scored against the same criteria.
“This year, council determined to provide smaller grant amounts to a broader group of community organisations rather than large grants (such as that applied for by the Multicultural Festival) to a smaller number of community organisations or order to seek to assist as many community organisations as possible.”
She said round 2 opens on January 1 next year with an available budget of up to $366,719.
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MAYOR Tom Tate has been accused of letting the multicultural community down after a funding dispute over the Gold Coast Multicultural Festival boiled over this week.
Gold Coast Cultural Festival Association president Ben Brauer said the Mayor had “gone completely away from community support to corporate” after he turned down a request for funding this month.
But Mayor Tate strongly denied the accusation, saying: “To suggest we have stepped away from helping our community when we have just made $1.5 million in hardship and recovery grants for community groups available is just plain wrong and offensive.”
Mr Brauer accused the council of rejecting funding for the festival through its community grants program. It had asked for $20,000 to match the State Government’s commitment over two years. He says after council said “no”, he wrote to Mayor Tate.
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However, a council spokeswoman said a community grants application had not been received for the festival for the 2020-21 year. Applications were still open.
Mr Brauer said 22,000 people passed through the gates at the Broadwater Parklands last year and it was an important event for the city’s melting pot of culture and diversity.
According to the council’s website, this year’s October 11 festival “is the premier whole-of-city event for our region” and will feature 185 international performers and up to 75 stalls.
“It is an event that the whole family can enjoy, providing an unprecedented display of southeast Queensland’s cultural diversity including international food, art, craft, and cultural information,” it says.
Mr Brauer said while funding had been received from the Gold Coast City Council over the years, it was “chequered” and that the citywide festival received no community grants funding in 2018 or 2019.
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“Which means we had to go begging to the local councillor with only one month to go before the event, receiving half of our requested amount one month out of the event, once again draining our community organisations sparse reserves when the festival had only just begun its recovery,” he said.
“It’s not a divisional event, it’s a wide-city event and should be funded by the community grants scheme.
“Without adequate council support, the Multicultural Festival will not be able to go ahead.”
Mr Brauer said the festival must be held in the 2020 calendar year for the State Government funding to continue for 2021.
“It’s basically saying to the multicultural community ‘up yours’ – it’s a disgrace.”
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Mayor Tate responded: “Of all people I understand the importance of multiculturalism in our community and have been celebrating our diversity for the past eight years by funding events, infrastructure at key venues such as Chinatown and ensuring that all our city’s disaster information is available in multiple languages.
“There are dozens of events — such as Japan and Friends Day and the Bonjour GC French Festival — hosted by various groups throughout the city each year which celebrate our diversity. There is not one event which can encapsulate all there is to offer.”
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A spokeswoman said it was the council who decided in 2019 that the festival was not eligible for money under the community grants programs.
“There are many worthy community applications received for the community grants program and in terms of multicultural proposals, it was decided the public interest was served through funding the successful multicultural organisations and events,” she said.
Originally published as Gold Coast Multicultural Festival cancelled after it failed to attract funding from the Gold Coast City Council.
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