FOUR events in Bathurst will be bolstered with a new grant from the NSW Government.
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Bathurst Regional Council has received a grant of $287,582 as part of the Reconnecting Regional NSW - Community Events Program, which will enable it bring the community together to help revive the live entertainment scene post-pandemic.
The funding will boost the off-track Circuit to City experience and a free concert in Machattie Park ahead of the Bathurst International, along with the Inland Sea of Sound festival and New Year's Eve Party in the Park.
Mayor Robert Taylor said these events would be enjoyable for the community, but also act as a way to support musicians and businesses.
"It's a great opportunity for the residents to reconnect back into the business community. It's terrific for the business community that we are going to hold these four events in the CBD," he said.
"There was talk of holding them up at the Mount, but we feel that it's better in the CBD."
The first of the events will be held in November when the Bathurst International rolls into town.
The Party in the Park will be held at its usual location in December, while the Inland Sea of Sound is scheduled for late February and will bring live entertainment to venues in the CBD.
"It's really getting the entertainment community and the residents reconnecting into venues as we go back to that live music," Cr Taylor said.
"Through COVID, it all went away and it was very economically disadvantaging to the entertainers around. This is just a new way of reconnecting within the community and the business houses.
"I think [the Community Events Program] is a great, great initiative. We are appreciative of the state government for this grant and we are going to well and truly use it for good advantage to everyone in the CBD."
Deputy Premier and Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said the funding is about helping locals and visitors to get back out to events, and to build on those events so they can create new opportunities.
"This is about reinvigorating communities, but this is also ensuring that people can get back out and enjoy socialising with one another and engaging with one another again," he said.
"It's also going to provide an economic boost to businesses within the local area, and having these activities down around Kings Parade is important as well, because it's going to support the businesses."
The $25 million Reconnecting Regional NSW - Community Events Program is part of the $200 million Regional Recovery Package, designed to support economic and social recovery across regional NSW that will create new jobs and support community events, shows and festivals to boost tourism.
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