SOCIAL Democrats councillor and youth theatre director Shane Hickey-O’Mara has called on Limerick City and County Council to carry out sustainability audits on forthcoming festivals throughout Limerick, beginning with Samhain 2024.
Cllr Hickey-O’Mara also asked if a sustainability audit had been carried out for Riverfest this summer.
In response, Limerick City and County Council revealed that a sustainability audit was not undertaken for this year’s Riverfest, but said it is currently examining the sustainability of its civic festivals in line with its Festivals and Events Strategy.
Council Deputy Director General Gordon Daly pointed out that Samhain is an independent festival produced and delivered by Lumen Street Theatre.
“Limerick City and County Council makes direct investment in the festival sector through the annual Festivals and Events scheme,” he told Cllr Hickey-O’Mara.
The three strands of funding available includes delivery and programming of small and community focused festivals and events, delivery and programming of medium and large scale festivals and events, and festival development and sustainability.
Strand three, Mr Daly explained, seeks to fund actions to support the long-term sustainability of festivals and events.
“This strand aims to support the development of organisational structures such as the carrying out of feasibility studies; business plan development; reviews of governance structure; development of new festival/event concepts; marketing and audience development strategies; clustering initiatives which support collaboration through shared resources and/or expertise amongst two or more festivals/events. This award is intended to support a step change in the ambition and delivery of the festival,” he concluded.
