22 August 2012

Folk Festival gets a bung from Barr

| johnboy
Join the conversation
14

Andrew Barr has the happy news (if you’re the National Folk Festival) that the rest of us are paying $134,000 so the Easter festivities may roll on:

In a report to ACT Government and KPMG, the NFF board acknowledged the five principal reasons they
were suffering budget difficulties:
— The cost of office accommodation;
— An increasing staffing budget;
— Cashflow issues based on the four-day festival being held at Easter and relying on good weather
and not coinciding with other events, such as Anzac Day;
— Branding;
— Inaccurate ticketing revenue forecast and complimentary ticketing.

We wonder how many other businesses in Canberra having trouble for any of these reasons can get slipped a wad?

Join the conversation

14
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

30 cents per Canberran, what an outrage!

We should fund the entire thing and make it free.

Another perspective perhaps…

Andrew Barr and the ALP also have just committed $800,000 to community motor sport and millions to the Manuka Oval development so we can have day night cricket as well as a few token games by the Greater Western Sydney Giants. Alongside these sort of sums, the handout to the NFF seems like small change.

Then there is the “purchase” of land out at Parkwood Eggs for $7.5 million so that Parkwood can convert to cage-free eggs (and presumably charge more for them).

colourful sydney racing identity9:48 am 23 Aug 12

switch said :

colourful sydney racing identity said :

+1 – Too late now, of course, but I do wonder how a ‘no pokies’ ticket would go in the legislative assembly election.

Even if successful, they’d be rolled the same way Wilkie has been.

depends, if they were socially progressive and took a seat or two of labor/greens they could be real players in the Assembly.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

+1 – Too late now, of course, but I do wonder how a ‘no pokies’ ticket would go in the legislative assembly election.

Even if successful, they’d be rolled the same way Wilkie has been.

colourful sydney racing identity8:44 am 23 Aug 12

I would also suggest that the ACT Government should take some of the blame for the troubles given the massive increase in requirements for OHS and Liquor Licensing compliance they have imposed on the NFF in recent years and the costs associated with that increased regulation.

I’d agree on this point as it seems that the only places the current ALP government want people drinking is in club run by them which, incidentally, seem to be chock full of pokies.

+1 – Too late now, of course, but I do wonder how a ‘no pokies’ ticket would go in the legislative assembly election.

Good to hear. It’s about time the ACT Government provided some support to a high quality event that provides significant benefit to the ACT economy and to culture in the Territory. Certainly, it’s a better use of funds than the money that gets thrown at Summernats.

I would also suggest that the ACT Government should take some of the blame for the troubles given the massive increase in requirements for OHS and Liquor Licensing compliance they have imposed on the NFF in recent years and the costs associated with that increased regulation.

Gungahlin Al10:30 pm 22 Aug 12

I for one am glad to see this support. The National Folk Festival is an important event on the region’s cultural calendar and does indeed bring a lot of money and cash to town, not to mention fantastic musical talents.

I love that it’s on over Easter, at a time when I don’t really feel like joining the hoards trying to kill themselves on the roads.

As TheObserver said, its a NFP – not a business, and an important part of the balance sheet for EPIC to boot.

The last year was a problematic one obviously, with much of the nation in the grip of severe fiscal tightening and unwillingness of consumers to spend – outside Canberra anyway – we are insulated from a lot of it here.

So the festival could go into next year as a bare bones event and thereby ensuring the slide continues, or they can get it back up to the standard of the previous couple of years and get the numbers back through the gate. The grant will help it ensure the latter, and perhaps more effectively than money that was tipped the way of Summernats under Chick Henry.

“”the five principal reasons they
were suffering budget difficulties:
– The cost of office accommodation;
– An increasing staffing budget;
– Cashflow issues based on the four-day festival being held at Easter and relying on good weather
and not coinciding with other events, such as Anzac Day;
– Branding;
– Inaccurate ticketing revenue forecast and complimentary ticketing.””

Easily fixed , slug more for entrance..

Why the negative editorial position? It’s not even that much of a wad, by the ACT Govt’s standards.

You haven’t put forward anything particularly compelling to suggest they don’t deserve the money.

too big to fail…

let me get this right…….

even after they say things like

– Inaccurate ticketing revenue forecast and complimentary ticketing
(reads like, no idea how many tickets we sell and the guys on the gate pocket cash)

–Cashflow issues based on the four-day festival being held at Easter and relying on good weather
and not coinciding with other events, such as Anzac Day;
(OMG a Clash with ANZAC day, who invented such a public holiday or who would have thought after 20 years Easter in Canberra can be cold)

…..$134K of ACT taxpayers money supports these muppets? Oh Gawd, what a waste.

Mr Barr should build them a 400 seat grand stand

One really wonders why the RiotAct has such a thing about the NFF – maybe it doesnt advertise enough with RiotAct, but on the upside, this is a not for profit community organisation that has put about 100million into the ACT Economy over the years, helped start the careers of any number of artists from across the country, even while has bars serving alcohol manages to put on a safe, family event and certainly punches well above its weight for an event that generally has generally not benefitted from local Govt assistance – it has certainly contributed far more than it has ‘taken’.

CrocodileGandhi4:49 pm 22 Aug 12

It would be nice to see an explanation from the event organisers on how those factors are not 1) completely under their control; and 2) the same as those faced by any other event/organisation.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.