The Flemish government announced that 60 million Euros will be made available for festival organizers. Precisely, the government will inject 50 million as advances and 10 million for establishing security protocols related to COVID-19.
The Flemish government is the regional government for Flanders in Belgium. This covers Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, and other smaller Belgian cities. The other two regions in Belgium are the Walloon Region and Brussels-Capital region. Tomorrowland takes place in Boom, Belgium which is within the Flemish Region.
Economy and tourism ministers of the Flemish government want to avoid the scenario of last year. “Anything that can continue safely must continue safely“, the two ministers told the VRT. Both small and big festivals like Tomorrowland will benefit from this relief. The Flemish government gave the details about the COVID-19 funds in this statement:
“Small events with a total cost of at least 250,000 euros can therefore count on the support of up to 75,000 euros, while large players with a budget of at least 7.5 million euros can count on the support of up to 500,000 euros.”
The 50 million will provide event organizers the chance to request a repayable advance of 1.8 million at most. This break is more than welcomed by the industry. As stated before, this call is open to festivals, but also to all other types of events.
“With the repayable advance for the event industry, we provide the resources needed to keep the engine running and offer insurance against the risk of organizing an event in times of uncertainty.”
This news is very encouraging for those festivals, as we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
