Five Waterford festivals have been awarded funding totalling €18,000 under the Department of Tourism’s 2016 Festivals and Events Programme.
The funding covers smaller, regional events and includes €6,000 for two city-based festivals –
Imagine Arts Festival (€3,000) and Waterford Harvest Festival (€3,000) and a further €12,000 for three county festivals –Waterford Festival of Food (€5,000), IMMRAMA (€2,000) and Lismore Music Festival (€5,000).
The objective of the festival funding programme is to generate additional overseas visitors across the country and across the calendar year, according to Shaun Quinn, CEO of Fáilte Ireland.
“While recent tourism performance from overseas markets has been encouraging, we are determined to build on this momentum to drive and sustain economic growth,” he said.
“Ensuring that Ireland is offering compelling reasons for overseas visitors to choose Ireland, our festivals calendar plays an important role in ensuring that we have a varied and attractive menu of things to see and do for tourists. These festivals will provide the backbone to this year’s tourism event calendar and add to our ability to grow overseas visitors and revenue.”
