Re-imagined ACTION buses, flash mobs on the weekend and the World Curry Festival were all deemed worthy of funding in the latest round of City Grants
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The grants are administered by the City Renewal Authority and funded by a levy on local businesses to help bring life to Civic, Braddon and Acton.
Almost $300,000 in grants was distributed recently including $50,000 to CIT which will convert six old ACTION buses into small cinemas, music venues, fashion runways and art installation spaces for a three-day festival November 26-28.
The buses will be transformed through the skill of various CIT departments.
Other recipients were the Design Canberra Festival ($50,000), the You Are Here Festival ($50,000), the World Curry Festival ($50,000) and the Canberra Comedy Festival ($43,200).
The Salvation Army City Canberra received $10,000 for a "community listening project" called #CBRtalks.
The project aims to engage people in "intentional, inclusive listening in public spaces" through storytelling.
A "curious and cosy" mobile space will move through the levy area, which will be supported by a temporary pop-up in City Walk that will include photos taken of people who have participated in the community listening activities.
The Canberra Dance Theatre received $5500 to hold a series of weekday dance performances and a weekend flash mob, in City Walk, "starting with just a couple of dancers and growing to a large intergenerational and inclusive group".
The Braddon Town Team received $10,000 for a one-day Braddon Busking Festival which it hopes will become an annual event.
City Renewal Authority chief executive Malcolm Snow said the diverse variety of grant recipients would support increased activity in the city centre and encourage higher visitation.
"We had a lot of great applications in this round of funding but our successful applicants really demonstrated how their project would make the city a more fun, welcoming and exciting place to spend time," Mr Snow said.
"Design Canberra and the Canberra Comedy Festival will both put Civic Square at the centre of their events, the Orange Wolves project will bring something totally different to our city's public spaces, the World Curry Festival will bring a much loved event back to City Walk and the popular You Are Here Festival will return to invite the community to interact with the city in engaging ways.
"I also look forward to seeing some of the interesting and entertaining projects that our smaller grant recipients will be undertaking over the next six months."
City Grants are funded by the City Centre Marketing and Improvements Levy. Applications will open later this year for another round of Tier 1 grants (up to $10,000) with projects occurring in the first half of 2020.
For more information on grant recipients or on the City Grants program, visit www.cityrenewalCBR.com.au
