Ashburton Courier: May 06, 2021

COUNCILBRIEF
5Baring SquareWest,Ashburton |POBox 94, Ashburton, NewZealand 7740 | Telephone (03) 307 7700 | Website ashburtondc.govt.nz
Week of 03 March 2021 | ISSUE 27
Thousands to beinvested in Mid Canterburyevents
Nine new and existing Mid Canterbury
events that aim to bring domestic
tourists to the area have been given
the green light formorethan $50,000 of
funding.
The Mid Canterbury Regional Events
Funding panel has today announced the
successful applicants for the first round
of the newgrant,which wasdeveloped by
the Ministry for Business, Innovation and
Employment earlier this year.
The funding will support four
entertainment-based events, a
conference, three sporting competitions
and an awards night.
Chair of the Regional Events Funding
panel, Deputy Mayor Liz McMillan said
it was fantastic to see such avariety of
exciting and quality events put forwardfor
consideration.
“These events reflect our community’s
diverse interests and attractions, and we
aresopleasedtobegetting behind them
with such asignificant financial boost.
“The Regional Event Funding isall about
helping our community to bring visitors
from outside of our districttosupport our
localeconomy,andwearereallyexcited to
assist them in showcasingthe Ashburton
District.”
The South Island Secondary Schools
Mountain Bike Tournament hosted at
Mt Hutt was awarded $3,764; the Rakaia
Salmon Run has received $4,000; while
$4,500 will go towards New Zealand’s
largest premier dairy conference, the
South IslandDairyEvent (Ashburton).
Afurther $5,000 each has been awarded
to aclassic and vintage car event, The
Exhibition (Methven);the Mid Canterbury
Business of the Year Awards; Boulevard
Day (Ashburton Domain); and the nation’s
premier pickleball tournament, the Mid
CanterburyWinter Classic (Ashburton).
Meanwhile, Bite Nite Culture Fest
(Ashburton) will have$8,000 to go towards
its annual youth-focussed food, music,
and dance celebrations, while $10,000
will be used tokickstart anew Winter
Whiteout event that will featuremusic and
entertainment showcasing the Methven
region.
Each event could applyfor up to $10,000
of funding, with the events to take place
between1July 2021 and 30 June 2022.
ThenextroundofMidCanterburyRegional
Event Funding will open inSeptember
2021 for events taking place between 1
February2022 and 30 June 2022.
The grant is available overfour years.
About the Mid Canterbury Regional
Events Funding
The Ministry ofBusiness, Innovation and
Education's(MBIE) newgrant is designed
to help the regions bring domestic tourists
to their door as mostinternational borders
remain closed.
ChristchurchNZ, Mid Canterbury'stourism
promotion provider has secured more
than $230,000 of the fundingtodistribute
in the district over the next four years.
The Mid Canterburygrant selection panel
consists of Deputy Mayor, Liz McMillian;
Ashburton District Council Acting
EconomicDevelopment Manager,Richard
Fitzgerald;ChristchurchNZMidCanterbury
Marketing Director, Bruce Moffett; Sport
Canterbury Regional Manager, Jan
Cochrane; Economic Advisory Panel,
Andrea Lee; Tourism Advisory Panel,
Jennifer Parks; and Ashburton Trust Event
CentreGeneral Manager, RogerFarr.
1 ashburtondc.govt.nz
Week of 03 March 2021 |ISSUE 27