MEGA ACE FUND ENHANCED

The Government today announced details about the enhancement of the operation of the Mega Arts & Cultural Events (ACE) Fund and its application arrangements.

Taking into consideration the latest developments in Hong Kong's arts and culture sector and ecology, as well as various views from different parties, the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau has reviewed the operation and funding mode of the Mega ACE Fund and consulted the Mega ACE Committee.

The bureau explained that it will enhance the operation of the fund through several areas with a view to better and more effectively promoting the development of arts and culture, as well as boosting tourism and the economy.

The assessment criteria will emphasise the requirement for the funded events to cover elements that promote tourism and bring economic benefits for the purpose of integrating arts and culture with the socio-economic development to bring a positive impact to Hong Kong's community as a whole.

The fund will adopt a fixed application cycle, ie three rounds of applications each year, with deadlines set on the last working day of April, August and December each year, and applicants should submit applications at least six months prior to the proposed event date.

This not only encourages event organisers to make adequate planning, but also allows the fund to consider applications received in the same round in one lot. Upon examining the merits of each application, the fund will identify not more than four projects that deserve support in that round and determine the corresponding funding amount.

The target is to support at most 10 projects each year, with the goal of utilising limited resources more effectively.

A matching grant will be introduced to encourage the event organisers to solicit commercial sponsorship to enhance the level of participation of commercial organisations and follow the over-arching principle of industry building.

The requirements on key performance indicators (KPIs) will be strengthened, including adding KPIs in respect of the integrated development of mega arts and cultural events and tourism to better monitor the effectiveness of the events and showcase the impact of the fund.

The new mechanism will officially take effect on January 1, 2025, and is applicable to events to be organised on or after July 1, 2025. Applicants should use the new version of the application form and submit applications at least six months prior to the proposed event date.

After the deadline of each round of application, the Mega ACE Committee Secretariat will notify the applicants of the results generally within 14 weeks.

The deadline of the first round of applications will be April 30, 2025. The secretariat will process the applications received between January 1 and April 30, 2025 in one lot.

For events to be organised between May 1 and June 30, 2025, having considered that event organisers may not be able to submit the applications at least six months prior to the event as required upon the implementation of the new mechanism, the bureau will make a special transitional arrangement, which accepts applications to be submitted at least four months prior to the event as per the existing requirement.

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