Live music RISEs with grant

MINERS Rest live music business Regional Touring has received a giant gift this Christmas week.

Promoter Duane McDonald received $490,000 from the Federal Government’s Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand Fund to get his major gigs, including the 30-show Red Hot Summer Tour and SummerSalt festivals, back on stage with a bang.

Mr McDonald said Regional Touring “struggled” throughout the pandemic, and as recently as last week, he was coming to grips with the fact his business was “right at the end.”

“This funding is very much appreciated and couldn’t come at a better time,” he said.

“It’s not an endless amount of money… but it gives us some confidence to move forward and get back to what we love doing, and it’s so gratefully received.

“It will allow us to get some suppliers back on deck with confidence. Every industry is hurting, but the arts and entertainment has struggled right the way through at every level.

“For us to give our suppliers the confidence that we’re proceeding with shows, it’s a great feeling.”

Victorian Senator, Sarah Henderson, presented the RISE grant to Mr McDonald on Thursday, aware that Regional Touring would have otherwise suspended their operations.

“These grants are so incredibly important to keep our arts and music industries alive,” she said.

“This is a really great credit to Duane, and on behalf of the Morrison Government, we are very, very proud to be supporting Regional Touring.”

The Ballarat International Foto Biennale has also received a RISE grant worth $117,000.

Back in August the organisers of the Meredith Music Festival and the Golden Plains Festival received $650,000 from the same fund to stage the 30th and 15th iterations of those events respectively, although they were subsequently delayed for an extra year.