Festivals Merri-bek Development Program

In 2020, the Festivals Merri-bek Development Program will continue to support the development of new high quality, innovative, participatory and live art projects.

For the past 3 years the Festivals Merri-bek Development program has been run alongside the annual Coburg Carnivale, supporting the creation of new participatory and live art projects that premiered in and around central Coburg as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Due to the COVID-19 and its impact on how, where and why people can gather in public, we have made some changes to this year’s program.

To allow for flexibility for the development and delivery of selected projects in this time, new works will not be tied to one specific Merri-bek event or locale, must occur prior to 30 June 2021 (subject to COVID-19 restrictions) and be a City of Merri-bek exclusive premiere.

We will work with you to identify which Merri-bek-produced festival or suburb would best suit the work.

Funding available

A maximum of 4 projects will be supported through a financial contribution of between $5,000 and $10,000.

What kinds of projects are we looking for?

We are interested in the development of new, high-quality creative work that is bold, seeks to explore and inspire community connection and that is a creative response to this time of uncertainty and disruption.

These works can be presented online or in a site-specific location or in line with COVID-19 restrictions at the time of presentation.

Who can apply?

The opportunity is open to any independent (i.e. not recurrently funded) artist, group, collective or company working in any creative industries, including individual artists or curators, teams of artists and small companies.
Preference will be given to artists who live, work or practice in the municipality of Merri-bek.

In line with Council’s Human Rights Policy 2016–26, we encourage applications from local creative practitioners who are members of: