THE CREATORS OF Electric Picnic have been awarded nearly half a million euro under a scheme trying to revitalise the live performance industry.
EP Republic Limited is receiving €423,135 to stage “live music and theatre shows, comedy acts and arts in Stradbally Hall and Olympia Theatre”.
Another three top recipients in Dublin have been awarded €423,135 alongside Electric Picnic.
Body and Soul’s “Equinox” event will “showcase exemplary Irish practitioners of music, comedy, spoken word, set design, cross-pollinating practices, creating new authentic performances”.
Pod Festivals will host “a specially designed open-air social distant summer series of music, performance, spoken word, comedy and more”, and Event Fuel is running a virtual festival with multiple livestreamed stages.
Aiken Promotions is receiving the largest sum of any awardee - €581,811 – towards performances in Vicar Street.
The Live Performance Support Scheme was aimed at venues, promoters and producers with a track record of live performances that plan to hold a live event by the end of September.
Minister for Culture Catherine Martin said she was “very pleased to announce this funding, which will encompass and support a wide range of performances over the coming summer months”.
“I know this funding will assist in the employment of performers, artists, technicians, creative and performance support staff across the sector, bringing much-needed employment to many who have not had work for many, many months,” Martin said.
“I look forward to the high quality artistic output, as demonstrated in the pilot, which has been so important and enjoyed by so many,” she said.
“I have recently provided a further €5m under the Local Live Performance Programming Scheme for local authorities to engage local performers and crew to stage live performances in their areas, creating further employment opportunities over the coming months.”
237 events around the country are receiving funding under the scheme out of more than 400 applicants.
Performances of Angela’s Ashes, an Irish musical, are being supported at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin, while live or streamed productions of the play Philadelphia Here I Come are benefitting in Cork and an operatic adaption of James Joyce’s The Dead is coming to the Gaiety.
Tayto Park will be home to “an original family friendly musical production”.
In Donegal, funding is given to performances on the beach in Bundoran; live music events in the Gaeltacht of Gaoth Dobhair; and gigs in rural Donegal or at natural or historic sites; and more.
Some events that have been awarded funding stipulate that they will hold their performance in person if permitted under restrictions, or virtually if not.
Since 7 June, outdoor events can be held with 100 attendees, or 200 if the venue’s capacity is at least 5,000.
Cinemas and theatres were allowed to reopen.
Organised indoor events with 50 attendees, or 100 in larger venues, can return on 5 July, and capacity at outdoor events may increase to 200 or 500.
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