€25m funding issued to kickstart live music and entertainment sector

The Indiependence festival, Electric Picnic and Aiken Promotions are among the recipients of the funding announced today. 

Electric Picnic, Body and Soul, Sea Sessions are among the festivals to receive funding from the scheme.

The government has announced €25 million in funding to help gigs and festivals to happen this year.

The announcement comes less than a week after the first test event took place at the Iveagh Gardens, which saw approximately 500 people attend a performance by musicians James Vincent McMorrow and Sorcha Richardson.

More than 230 organisations will benefit from the scheme which aims to provide significant opportunities within the sector and support live performances going forward.

Aiken Promotions is set to receive the greatest portion of the funding with over €500,000 going towards performances in Dublin's Vicar Street over the summer months.

Pod Festivals will also receive substantial funding for Meadows Festival which is a specially designed open-air, social distanced summer series of events including music, comedy and spoken word.

Of the funding announced today, over €2.6m will go to Cork organisations with over €250,000 going to the Indiependence festival.

Among the Cork organisations to benefit from the Live Performance Support Scheme are:

• Patrick Talbot Productions - live or streamed productions of Philadelphia, Here I Come, €333,440 
• Indiependence Music and Arts Festival - outdoor concert series at Tramore Valley Park, €264,460 
• Padak LTD - Gigs at Crane Lane Theatre, €157,539 
• Sample Culture - It Takes a Village shows in Trabolgan Holiday Camp, €140,670 
• Coates Entertainment - comedy gigs at City Limits Comedy Club, €104,200 

A number of Cork pubs will also receive funding including The Oliver Plunket, Reardens, Coughlans and Connolly's of Leap.

Electric Picnic, Body and Soul, Sea Sessions are among the festivals to receive funding from the scheme.

Festival Republic who are behind Electric Picnic have been awarded €423,000 for live shows in Stradbally Hall and the Olympia Theatre.

It also includes money to hold events at the Olympia, the Gaiety and Bord Gáis theatres along with funding for a number of touring circuses.

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, said the funds will help to bring much-needed employment to those who work in live entertainment who have not had work for many, many months.

"I have recently provided a further €5m under the Local Live Performance Programming Scheme for local authorities to engage local performers and crew to stage live performances in their areas, creating further employment opportunities over the coming months," said Ms Martin.

The €25m scheme is part of a €50m suite of measures introduced to support the sector and follows the successful pilot events held last week.

Over 400 applications were submitted for consideration for funding with just over half of them successful in securing the finance. Some €80m was sought in total, according to the department.

Speaking to reporters, the minister said government "can't guarantee" large festivals like Electric Picnic will return with crowds later this year, while updates on other trial events, including the Phoenix Park concert and the nightclub test event, will be issued in the coming days.