This fund supports the establishment of new events in their first or second year of operation with seed funding of up to $20,000 (excluding GST) to support activities that are likely to establish an event as a driver of visitation.

The Regional Event Fund identifies and supports events in regional NSW that have the potential to act as a 'cornerstone' or flagship tourism event for their area by attracting overnight visitation and delivering long term benefits to the region.

The Regional Event Fund comprises 3 individual funding streams providing a development pipeline for events from inception, through emergence, to their establishment as tourism events in Regional NSW.

This page provides information on the Incubator Event stream of the Regional Event Fund only. Guidelines for the Flagship Event stream and Event Development stream are available separately.

The purpose of the Incubator Event stream is to offer seed funding to events in Regional NSW to support their first or second year of activity.

To be eligible to apply for the Regional Event Fund Incubator Event stream, applicants must:

• be the event owner (i.e. own the rights to the event and hold the relevant approvals for the event) at the time of application and contract
• be financially solvent or be financially viable and able to demonstrate that they are likely to remain so over the duration of the funding period
• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• be a sole trader, company, partnership, unincorporated and incorporated associations, or company trust entity
• have at least $20 million public liability insurance, or be able to secure before entering into a Funding Agreement
• be a legal entity and not a business name.

To be eligible for the Incubator Event stream, your event must:

• take place between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027
• be held for the first or second year in the year of funding
• be held in one of the following seven Destination Network regions listed below:
  • Destination Central West
  • Destination Country & Outback NSW
  • Destination North Coast including Lord Howe Island
  • Destination Riverina Murray
  • Destination Southern NSW
  • Destination Sydney Surrounds North
  • Destination Sydney Surrounds South.

Please note: the Local Government Areas of Penrith, Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and Wollondilly are no longer included in the above Destination Networks.

• Email: grants.admin@dnsw.com.au