Two schemes to help the arts and entertainment sector were launched on Monday, one of which will see the government double the money received from ticket sales. The scheme will cost €2 million.

The Event Support Scheme was launched Monday morning by Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and Culture Minister Jose Herrera.

They explained that tickets have to be capped at €15, and organisers are required to follow all health protocols, including that the events must be seated.

“I want to show my solidarity with this sector, which was one of the most affected during the pandemic,” Bartolo said. “However, whether you agree or disagree with the Government, for the past year and a half, we have always helped.”

The scheme aims to assist artists and event organisers when it comes to organising events in “particular zones” as published by the Health Authorities, as well as other events “which will only be allowed to take place with the use of the vaccine certificates”.

The scheme has three criteria, the minister said. First, there needs to be ticket-matching. A capping of €15 for every ticket applies, so “the organisers will be given the same amount in a grant according to the number of ticket sales”. In other words, the organisers will be given 100% on top of their ticket sales.

On top of this scheme, the Government will give €1,500 to organisers for every controlled group (bubbles) that attend this particular event “so that we continue to follow the Health Authorities’ measures”, with a maximum of 2 bubbles. “This is so that there are more secure procedures when it comes to health measures,” Bartolo said.

The Minister said that the Government will also help this sector in terms of logistics, where those activities that will happen between the 19th July and 31st August will be provided with logistical help to organise events so that “they can focus on the creative part”, which will be free of charge.

The opening should be a gradual one, secure, and sustainable, the Minister said. “When we open, we don’t want to close.”

From his part, Minister Herrera said that this injection of €2 million in the arts sector is “a considerable amount” since it is going to be given “over a few weeks”.

This funding which will aid the Restart program which was introduced by Malta Arts Council in order to help them rejuvenate their art careers after the pandemic. He noted that with this, the program Restart reached a grant of €5.62 million in total.

Herrera remarked that this scheme will be overlooked by the Malta Arts Council with the help of Festivals Malta and the Tourism Ministry.

 

Photos: Miguela Xuereb/Newsbook