20 August 2018

The Titahi Bay Beach Festival, national dog show and Creekfest are among the recipients of Porirua City’s Major Events Investment Fund.

The fund has $110,000 available for 2018/19. Criteria to apply included visitor numbers of more than 10,000 people, having 20 per cent of these visitors coming from across the region, and the event helping to build Porirua’s regional or national profile.

Fourteen applications were received, compared with seven in 2017/18.

The events that have been allocated funding are PolyFest ($12,500), the national dog show ($5,000), Neon Night Run ($4,000), Diwali Festival of Lights ($10,000), Eat, Drink & Be Crafty ($7,500), Titahi Bay Beach Festival ($10,000), CreekFest ($25,000, for equipment and staging), dance company Black Grace & Friends ($6,000) World Indigenous Basketball Championships ($15,000) and Porirua Grand Traverse ($15,000).

Councillor Faafoi Seiuli, deputy chairperson of the Grants, Awards and Events Sub-Committee, says some tough decisions were made about allocating the funding to the applicants at the sub-committee’s meeting last month. Value for money for the city was at the forefront of his mind, he said.

“There are a number of worthy events our city supports each year – events that put Porirua on the map, that are fantastic for our residents and visitors.

“Some are new and some are existing events, but all are growing from community to larger city occasions.

“We can’t give money to them all, but we have made some decisions that I know will benefit Porirua,” Clr Seiuli said.

The funding was confirmed at a meeting of full Council on Wednesday night.

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