Twenty-one Indian community organisations will receive funding to host multicultural festivals and events across Victoria from 1 July to 30 September 2025.
This amounts to nearly 19% of the total grants and $190,206 of the total funding pool.
The latest round of the State Government’s Multicultural Festivals and Events (MFE) Program and the Regional Multicultural Festivals and Events Fund has seen 111 total organisations receive grants of up to $50,000 each, in a total funding pool of $780,000.
The two largest Indian community recipients are Ballarat Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre, who received $30,000 to mount a three-day Ganesh Chaturthi 2025, and ISKCON in Albert Park, who received $25,000 host a Festival of India in Berwick and Werribee. The Ballarat Hindu Temple is also the largest overall grant recipient of the round.
The Federation of Indian Music and Dance Victoria, a coalition of classical arts schools founded by the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria, received $5000 to hold Samskriti, a Multicultural Festival of Music and Dance.
Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ingrid Stitt is excited to support multicultural events fostering unity and sharing of traditions.
“Multicultural festivals are a vital part of what makes Victoria so unique – they bring people together to share culture, strengthen community and celebrate who we are,” she said.
“The Multicultural Festivals and Events and the Regional Multicultural Festivals and Events programs recognise the contribution multicultural communities make to Victoria’s identity and helps keep traditions alive.”
More than 40 ethnicities and 60 faith groups were represented in the funding pool, which includes Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), and Melbourne Chapter of Sydney’s Vedanta Centre, who both received around $5000.
Numerous Sri Lankan, Nepalese and inter-South Asian organisations such as the International Council for Engineers (Australia) received funding as well.
Many organisations received funding to continue or upscale their events, such as the Australia Telangana Association Inc. (ATAI), who have organised Australia’s biggest Bathukamma Flower Festival for 10 years. Multicultural Festivals and Events Program
Onam was the most popular event, with Udaya Sports and Arts Club, Greater Geelong Malayalee Association, Kaithangu/Ballarat Keralites’ Foundation, Frankston and Casey Malayalee organisations all receiving funding for numerous different festivals.
Interestingly, many of the successful grant amounts for these Indian organisations end with the number 1 rather than 0; adding a single rupee or dollar to a monetary gift is considered auspicious in Hinduism, as zero represents an ending, while one marks the beginning of a new journey, chapter, or project.
According to a media release accompanying the funding announcement today, the Labor Government has invested over $42 million towards almost 10,000 multicultural festivals and events across the state since 2014.
Another round of funding in the Multicultural Festivals and Events Program will be announced in September for events from October to December this year.
FULL LIST OF INDIAN COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS RECEIVING FUNDING IN THIS ROUND:
READ MORE: $500K for Shiva Vishnu Temple
