About the Regional Event Fund

The Regional Event Fund was established in 1996. The program is a mechanism to grow regional visitation by assisting events that contribute to the unique character of the tourism regions of NSW to market themselves to visitors from outside of their Local Government Area.

The Regional Event Fund comprises three individual funding streams providing a development pipeline for events from inception, through emergence, to their establishment as tourism events in Regional NSW.

The three individual streams of the Regional Event Fund are:

  • Incubator Event stream – supports the establishment of new events
  • Flagship Event stream – supports the marketing of emerging events to increase their profile and encourage visitation
  • Event Development stream – supports the strategic development of established events as drivers of tourism.

Each of the three streams within the Regional Event Fund have different eligibility, selection criteria and assessment processes.

Applications for the three streams are managed separately.

The primary objective of the Regional Event Fund is to provide grants to events in regional NSW that have demonstrated they are, or have the potential to become, tourism drivers for their region. Depending on the stream, grants are focused on event delivery, event marketing or specific growth initiatives.

Secondary objectives include leveraging supported events through Destination NSW marketing and communications activities to build the profile of NSW and specific destinations, and, through the application and feedback process, to offer guidance to event organisers to improve event management capabilities.

Ultimately, the funding program aims to increase visitation to regional events and increase economic benefit to destinations.
This page provides information on the Flagship Event stream of the Regional Event Fund only. Guidelines for the Incubator Event stream and Event Development stream are available separately.

The Flagship Event stream identifies and assists the development of events that contribute to the unique character and culture of the tourism regions of NSW and can demonstrate that they attract overnight visitation.

The Flagship Event stream offers grants specifically to support marketing activities aimed at increasing visibility and attracting visitation to the event from outside its immediate area. Grants through the Flagship stream are only available to events that have been running for more than two years.

The Flagship Event stream offers two subcategories:

  • Annual grant - $20,000 (ex GST)
  • Triennial grant - $30,000 (ex. GST) per annum for three years

A single event may receive an annual grant a maximum of three times and a Triennial grant only once. An event will only be considered for a Triennial grant once it has received three Annual grants.

Application to the Flagship Event stream is a single-stage process consisting of an online application form responding to a series of questions that address the fund criteria. Strong applications require robust data and supporting information.

To be eligible for Flagship Event funding an event must be held for the third time or more between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025 and must align with the fund criteria outlined in the grant guidelines.

Applicants are encouraged to read the Flagship Event grant guidelines before commencing an application to ensure your event meets the requirements.

View the guidelines here.

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Eligibility

Who can apply

To be eligible to apply for any of the three streams of the Regional Event Fund, applicants must:

  • Be the event owner (i.e. own the rights to the event and hold the relevant approvals for the event)
  • Be financially solvent
  • Have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • Be a sole trader, company, incorporated association, or trust entity
  • Have at least $20 million public liability insurance or be able to secure before entering into a Funding Agreement.

Who can’t apply

Ineligible applicants include:

  • Australian, State or Territory Government agencies or entities, including New South Wales
  • Destination Networks
  • Political parties

Types of projects funded under this grant

To be eligible for the Flagship Event Annual event subcategory, your event must:

  • Take place between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025
  • Have been held for a minimum of two years prior to applying for funding
  • Be held in one of the seven Destination Networks.

The Destination Networks include:

  • Destination Country & Outback NSW
  • Destination North Coast (including Lord Howe Island)
  • Destination Riverina Murray
  • Destination Southern NSW
  • Destination Sydney Surrounds North
  • Destination Sydney Surrounds South
  • Destination Central West

View Destination Networks boundaries map

Please note: the Local Government Areas of Penrith, Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and Wollondilly are no longer included in the below Destination Networks.

To be eligible for the Flagship Event Triennial event subcategory, your event must:

  • Meet the Eligible Events criteria above for Flagship Event Annual subcategory
  • Have received three Flagship Event Annual event grants.

Please review grant guidelines for the types of projects not funded under this grant.

What can you apply for?

Grants must be expended on marketing activities that:

  • Enhance the marketing and promotion of the event outside its home region
  • Are directed at specific markets outside the immediate Local Government Area of the event
  • Aim to increase tourism business by influencing visitors' intention to travel to, and stay overnight in, the region and/or to extend their length of stay.

Eligible costs include:

  • Advertising or promotional costs
  • Brand design
  • PR activities
  • Website development
  • Social or digital marketing
  • Cooperative marketing activities
  • Photography or videography
  • Visitor research

All visual communication materials (advertising, fliers, posters, image gallery etc.) must be of an appropriately high, professional standard. If required, grant monies should be used to achieve this standard.

What can’t you apply for?

Grant funds cannot be used to replace previous or other funding for the Event, such as:

  • Prize money, gifts, or contributions to charitable groups
  • Performer/artist fees
  • Infrastructure costs
  • Travel expenses
  • Event staging costs
  • Local council fees
  • General administration costs such as staff costs, salaries, administration and services
  • Costs incurred in the preparation of a grant application or related documentation.

What your application needs to include

Applicants are encouraged to:

  • Read the grant guidelines in full
  • Check their eligibility for the program
  • Speak to their Destination Network to advise of their intent to apply.

All applications for grants from the 2024/25 Flagship Event stream must be submitted through the Destination NSW online application platform.

Applicants will be required to attach the following documents to their online application:

  • Completed marketing plan
  • Completed Event Plan detailing your: event overview, operational processes, risk management, team structure and evaluation plan
  • Itemised budget for the 2024/25 event including projected revenue and expenditure
  • Certificate of currency for at least $20 million public liability insurance or evidence of ability to secure before entering into a Funding Agreement.

The application form includes multiple opportunities to upload supplementary information in support of the application and applicants are encouraged to do so.

Address the eligibility criteria

Each applicant must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria for the Flagship Event stream, when completing the online application form.

Applicants should note the additional eligibility criteria for the Flagship Event Triennial subcategory.

Address the Assessment Criteria

The Flagship Event stream of the Regional Event Fund is an open, competitive grants program. Eligible applications will be assessed on their merits against the selection criteria, be compared with and ranked against other applications. Applications with the highest scores are more likely to be funded.

Assessment will be based on the following assessment criteria:

  1. Economic impact (30% weighting)
  2. Strategic marketing alignment and community impact (50% weighting)
  3. Event planning and due diligence (20% weighting)

Applicants will be required to attach the following documents to their online application:

  • Completed marketing plan
  • Completed event management plan detailing your event overview, operational processes, risk management, team structure and evaluation plan
  • Itemised budget for the 2024/25 event including projected revenue and expenditure
  • Certificate of currency for at least $20 million public liability insurance, or evidence of ability to secure before entering into a funding agreement.

Application process

Applications are now open for the Flagship Event stream of the 2024/25 Regional Event Fund.

Applications for grants from the 2024/25 Flagship Event stream must be submitted through the Destination NSW online platform.

Applicants are encouraged to:

  • Read the grant guidelines in full
  • Check their eligibility for the program
  • Speak to their Destination Network to advise of their intent to apply
  • Start their applications early during the application period to ensure they are completed in good time before the closing date. Destination NSW is not responsible for delays to the submission of applications caused by technology, connection or other issues outside of its control.
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After the application is submitted

The Flagship Event stream of the Regional Event Fund is an open, competitive grants program. Eligible applications will be assessed on their merits against the selection criteria, be compared with and ranked against other applications. Applications with the highest scores are more likely to be funded.

Applicants will be advised via email and/or letter of the outcome of their grant application once approval is determined by the decision maker.

Unsuccessful applicants will be notified in writing and offered the opportunity of a feedback session about their application.

Support and contact

If you need assistance or further information regarding this fund please contact the Grants Administration Team via email on grants.admin@dnsw.com.au

Destination Networks

For information on Destination Management Plans, regional tourism strategies and local tourism stakeholders click here.

Event listings

For assistance or questions about the Get Connected program, Destination NSW websites or the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW), please call 1300 137 225 or email support@atdw.com.au.

Program evaluation

Destination NSW will undertake an evaluation of the Program.