FREE street events are set to become a fixture in Newcastle with a state government funding boost making it cheaper, faster and easier to host parties, festivals and markets in the CBD.
City of Newcastle will receive up to $500,000 from the Minns government as part of its Permit/Plug/Play Pilot Program, to turn Darby Street, Laman Street, Beaumont Street and Wharf Road into event-ready sites through infrastructure.
Newcastle is among 16 councils to receive help, which includes reducing costs such as onsite power, water, safety barriers and bollards or gaining new traffic management plans and development applications for each event.
City of Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes welcomed the funding, which she said would develop resources to decrease the cost and complexity of hosting street-closure events.
"Local events provide important opportunities for social inclusion and provide a drawcard for visitors from outside the area, all of which can have a beneficial flow-on effect for the local businesses," she said.
Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp said reinvigorating the state's nightlife was a priority for the government.
"Newcastle's economy will undoubtedly benefit from this much-needed injection of funding. These events will foster a sense of community in Newcastle and will carve out spaces for people to come together and support local artists and businesses," he said.
