A financial package worth £65m to ease the impact of the pandemic on culture and events has been confirmed by the Scottish government.
The funding includes £31.5m for cultural businesses, organisations, venues and independent cinema, and £2m for national performing companies to compensate for Christmas losses.
The fund will also see £10m go to freelancers, £19.8m to the events sector, and £1.7m for museums, galleries and heritage.
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: ‘The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is once again causing disruption and uncertainty in the culture and events sector, who have already been hit so hard by its impact.
‘We have been engaging with the sector about the impact of the Omicron variant and we are fully committed to supporting culture and events while they recover from the impact of the COVID – and we are aware of just how important they are to Scotland, and indeed the wider recovery from this pandemic.
‘These additional funds will help protect the livelihoods of the people working in the sector – and allow us to give further support to freelancers, culture organisations, venues and our national performing companies.’
Since the start of the pandemic, the Scottish government has provided £175m to the culture, heritage and events sector.
Creative Scotland’s Chief Executive Iain Munro said: ‘We are very grateful for this significant increase in emergency funding from the Scottish Government which reflects the severity of the challenges being faced by Scotland’s culture sector.
‘Our Cancellation Fund for Creative Freelancers is live, with applications open from 6 January, and more information on support for organisations and venues will follow as soon as possible.’
VisitScotland Director of Events Paul Bush said: ‘The Scottish Government’s commitment of £19.8 million for Scotland’s events sector is welcome news as the industry continues to deal with the latest challenges presented by the pandemic and the Omicron variant.
‘EventScotland is currently working with the Scottish Government and the Event Industry Advisory Group (EIAG) to determine the best way of distributing the funding to ensure we get support to those in need across the sector, and details on this will be shared shortly.’
In related news, funding for shopfront improvements on Glasgow’s High Street and Saltmarket is available from Glasgow City Council’s Independent Retail Fund (IRF).
Photo by Ross Sneddon