What is the solution to saving regional events?
There’s no disputing the immense value of events to regional areas—financially, socially, and culturally. This has been proven time and time again, yet in these challenging times, the plight of the industry is largely overlooked. Big media headlines surface, but meaningful action where it matters—at the grassroots level—remains scarce.
During a consultation session earlier this week, we heard a deeply concerning comment that made us stop and think: ‘Unless we do something, in five years all events will need to be run by local government, as volunteer event teams are burning out and ceasing to exist’.
This scenario is alarming. While many local government teams are effective at running events, volunteer organising committees bring passion and creativity to events, creating unique events connected to place.
Local governments already face financial pressures and resource challenges. If we keep adding events to their portfolios, there are only two likely outcomes:
Many events will cease to exist, or
The quality of events delivered will suffer.
With the events industry’s major players struggling to survive amid rising costs, resource shortages, unpredictable climates, and heightened compliance requirements, how can we expect smaller events to endure without support? More events must be run with full community backing and greater recognition of the invaluable contributions volunteer committees make to a region’s livability.
So, what can we do? Now is the time for change: we must build strong event skills within communities to enable succession planning and prevent burnout. This is precisely why we’ve established the Australian Centre for Regional Events. Our programs are crafted by experts with practical regional event experience and a passion to prevent burnout and help regional events thrive.
We have two very different programs open for registrations now, depending on your needs:
Signature Program: Ideal for volunteer event committees or council staff who directly deliver events, this program covers essential event management skills with streamlined, practical procedures. While events aren’t rocket science, they require a broad understanding of fields like finance, marketing, production, logistics, risk management, and sponsorship. Our program helps organisers deliver events with more organisation and less stress. This is a ideal program for local governments to sponsor events through and help volunteer groups create systems and build sustainable event models with clear succession planning.
The next program commences in March 2025.For local government staff assisting event organisers or supporting the events industry in their region, we have designed the Local Government Leadership Program. This program explores your Council ecosystem, looks at efficiencies and how to best support and leverage events in your region.
The next program commences in May 2025.