More live music venues and small businesses across the city will be able to expand their night-time offerings thanks to more than $265,000 in grant funding from the City of Sydney.
The City's business support grants program will give 16 local businesses, including Yulli's Brews in Alexandria, Whole Beast Butchery in Potts Point and the Marlborough Hotel in Newtown, matched grants to launch new night-time activities or upgrade their acoustics, staging and equipment.
Since September last year, the City has provided more than $850,000 in funding to over 40 businesses through its night-time diversification and live music and performance grants.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the diversity of music and other programs in this round of business support grants was testament to the creativity of the city's venues and businesses.
"Sydney's music venues and businesses have come up with exciting new programs and ideas and they will be kick-started by the City through much-needed funding," the Lord Mayor said.
"Earlier this year, more than 10,000 Sydneysiders, visitors and city workers told us they wanted more and diverse options after dark. These grants support live music at a vintage clothes store, a vegan brewery, writers' talks at an art gallery and all-ages gigs at 107 Projects."
Projects that will benefit from the matched grant funding include:
- new sound and lighting equipment and staging to develop Yulli's Brews, a new vegan brewery, bar and restaurant in Alexandria, into a live music venue
- a fortnightly program of ticketed dinners with butchery and cooking demonstrations at the Whole Beast Butchery in Potts Point, a traditional butchery with a modern twist
- new or upgraded sound equipment to improve audience experience and reduce noise impacts at the Marlborough Hotel in Newtown and the Green Park Hotel in Darlinghurst
- a program of monthly events featuring international DJs on Saturday nights at the Oxford Hotel and Club 77 in Darlinghurst, plus weekly DJ events on Sundays at 5am at Club 77
- a program of night-time events, including film screenings, vintage fashion and live music at Grand Days recycled and reused goods store in Kings Cross
- a program of quarterly writers' talks featuring leading and emerging authors and industry experts at The Cross Arts Projects Gallery in Potts Point
- new sound equipment suitable for a wide range of musical styles to allow Home at Darling Harbour increase its live music offering and build a more diverse audience
- a program of monthly night-time 'meet the maker' events featuring artisans such as perfumers, candle makers and chocolatiers at Footage Boutique in Darlinghurst
- new sound and lighting equipment and soundproofing to attract new artists and audiences to live music performances at Claire's Kitchen in Darlinghurst, the Potts Point Hotel and Leadbelly in Newtown
- a program of monthly all-ages gigs at 107 Projects in Redfern, programmed and delivered by a young people's advisory committee
- new sound and staging equipment to create a new venue for live music and comedy performances at Pocket Bar and expand live programming at The Cliff Dive, both in Darlinghurst
- a program of Sunday night events including jazz, classical, burlesque and magic shows, aimed at an older demographic including LGBTIQ and international customers at Claire's Kitchen
- a program of major quarterly and smaller weekly night-time events celebrating culture, community, artistic expression and emerging Sydney talent at Commune in Waterloo.
"It's been our goal for a while now to provide a quality platform to showcase local talent – supporting art and culture in the community is important to us, as is providing stellar entertainment for our patrons," Danielle Psaros from Yulli's Brews said.
"For the few bands we've hosted so far, we were only able to offer a microphone or two and a stage constructed of spare wooden beer pallets! The City's support means we will be able to call ourselves a legitimate live music venue and become the cultural hub we always envisioned our space to be."
The business support grants program offers matched grant funding up to $30,000 through its night-time diversification and live music and performance streams.
Funding is available for both non-profit and for-profit organisations. The City encourages programming of activities by retailers and in non-licensed and other non-traditional premises.
This round of applications was open from June to July 2018. City staff held Q&A sessions and met with interested businesses to discuss their projects and outline the application process.
Projects funded in this round will start from January 2019 and must be completed within 12 months.
