Perth and Kinross Council funding for Perth Festival

Jan 29 2010 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

BENEFITS brought to the Big County from Perth Festival of the Arts have been highlighted by councillors.

Members of Perth and Kinross Council’s enterprise and infrastructure committee agreed to award £23,500 from the local authority’s events fund to the annual extravaganza, which takes place this year from May 20-30.

Speakers agreed that over the past 38 years PFA had developed into a vibrant, all-encompassing cultural initiative which brings huge benefits to Perth and Kinross.

It is now regarded as one of Scotland’s leading multi-discipline arts events, attracting leading national and international artistes to the area.

“It brings in a tremendous amount of money and increases our profile in the arts sector,” insisted Cllr Willie Wilson, who commended organisers for increasing the breadth and depth of the programme to make it appeal to much wider audiences.

This year’s Perth Festival has an added importance as part of the Perth 800 celebrations. A major event is a special Perth 800 gala concert by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra with acclaimed soprano Barbara Bonney and conductor Sir Andrew Davis.

Other top attractions this year include the Halle Orchestra with Alison Balsom and Edward Gardner, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, US singer-songwriter Don McLean, the BBC Singers and an Andy Warhol exhibition.

The committee commended the festival for its inclusion of young local musicians in its programme.

Members were told in a report by Jim Valentine, the council’s depute environment director, that the PKC funding was only a small part of the PFA budget.

“In its submission for event funding the festival has projected a break-even budget of £422,100 for the 2010 festival,” he said.

“The largest single projected area of expenditure (£262,650) is on artistes’ fees and expenses. The amount of core funding sought from the council’s events budget (£23,500) is the same as for the 2008 and 2009 festivals.”

He concluded: “The festival has in recent years consciously sought to broaden its programme to appeal to a broader audience and demographic mix and has, through steadily increasing ticket sales, demonstrated that it is succeeding in presenting an appealing product and maintaining artistic excellence.”

Councillors poured praise on PFA organisers, especially for making it a more inclusive event in recent years.

But Cllr Alexander Stewart fired a warning shot that budget constraints may force a different tack in future years: “In difficult budget times, in the future organisations like this may not be able to receive as much funding as they did in the past,” he said.