Review to be carried out over council funding of community festivals

Scottish Borders Council’s Executive Committee this week approved a report to review the current Local Festival Grant Schemeand consider its future provision from 2024/25 onwards.

Currently, 29 festivals across the Borders are provided with an annual grant to support insurance costs and public protection measures.

They include Hawick Common Riding Committee, which receives £9,300,and Galashiels Braw Lads Committee, which receives the same amount, with a total of just over £85,000 allocated each year.

But as the last review of funding was in 2005 there is concern that some community events may be missing out on financial support.

The Executive Committee approved the establishment of a Member/Officer Working Group to undertake the review and report back to the committee.

Councillor Scott Hamilton, SBC’s executive member for Community and Business Development, said: “It’s really important to recognise how significant these local festivals are to communities and the local economy and in order to enable them to take place, they require the funds and support to do so.

“A review of the current scheme is well overdue and because of the increased challenges that some festivals are highlighting, as well as some newer festivals requesting support, a review will be carried out over the summer months to consider changes to the scheme from April 2024. This will allow full consideration of the findings of the review as part of the budget setting process for 2024/25.

“In carrying out the review there will be wide engagement with all stakeholders and a key part of the review and the support going forward will be focused on the sustainability of these local festivals and ideas on this will be sought through the engagement process”.