Cultural diversity in the Northern Eifel threatened: 508,000 euros are missing!

Cultural diversity in the Northern Eifel threatened: 508,000 euros are missing!

The cultural projects in the Northern Eifel are faced with at least 508,000 euros in regional cultural funding on behalf of the NRW Ministry of Culture, after the Cologne district government has announced. According to Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger are affected, including the literary festival Lit.eifel and the music festival "Transient". Of the 31 approved funding applications, only eight positive feedback received, while the majority, including 23 projects, fall under a drastic deletion. The recommendations come from a jury of experts who have assessed the applications. The administrators of the cultural institutions are disappointed and at a loss, since the country's cultural budget is to be reduced by 1.47 percent, which makes up a total of 5.5 million euros.

fight for financing

In response to these measures, cultural organizers such as the Förderverein painter of the Eifel actively mobilize support from regional politicians. Rainer Martens, whose project "Art in the River" is also affected, reports that the prospects for 2025 now appear bleak. For "art in the river", 14,800 euros were applied for, which have now been deleted. But the organizers plan to carry out the event with a shortened program. The lit.eifel, a lighthouse project for the cultural scene, has to do without hoped -for support of 40,000 euros. The dialect festival "Mir Kalle Platt" is also affected by the cuts and is now under pressure to close the financing gap.

In order to meet the challenges in the region, the state government opens up new door for funding together with the EU. As part of the "Regio.NRW-Transformation" project exhaustion, a total of 60 million euros will be made available, as reported Land.NRW . This could open up additional opportunities for the cultural projects concerned, especially in areas such as circular economy and climate protection. The submission period for project sketches ends on January 31, 2025, which is a new opportunity for innovative and sustainable projects in North Rhine-Westphalia.