Cumbria County Council's South Lakeland Local Committee today gave grants worth £9,000 to support festivals and attractions in the area.
Organisers of Kendal's Torchlight Festival asked for and got a grant of £4,000. The organisers asked for the money to help fund the event which this year will coincide with the finish in Kendal of the fifth stage of the Tour of Britain cycle race.
Councillors also agreed a grant of £4,000 to help with the costs of producing and distributing 60,000 Ulverston festivals leaflets to jointly promote festivals and attractions in the area. Ulverston hosts various events including the Lantern Procession and the Dickensian Festival and the wider area is home to many tourist attractions such as the Glass Centre, the Laurel and Hardy Museum and Gleaston Water Mill.
A further grant of £1,000 was provided to the Bluebird Project at Coniston's Ruskin Museum. The project which aims to extend the museum to house the reconstructed Bluebird speedboat in which Donald Campbell was killed attempting to break the world water speed record on Coniston Water in 1968.
Ted Walsh, chairman of South Lakeland Local Committee, said: "These three grants support festivals and attractions in the area. They will help the local economy and local communities. They are good news, not only for the people who live in South Lakeland, but also for the many people who visit the area."
The grants have been awarded from funds earmarked by the local committee for the support of festivals in South Lakeland.
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