Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $32 million in arts funding throughout the state, including 50 grants in Broward County totaling $2.5 million.
And the county’s tourism bureau, Visit Lauderdale, while keenly aware that festivals and special events are economic drivers to the area, cannot spend public money to fund local events that are not directly tourism related.
To help cover the funding gap, the Broward County Commission allocated $1 million from the county’s general fund to sponsor community arts and cultural festivals.
“[It was] in response to the growing county demand for more arts and culture,” says Phillip Dunlap, director of the Broward County Cultural Division.
The new grant fund is called the Arts & Cultural Festival and Special Event Sponsorship Program.
“This $1 million program provides support for community, neighborhood and municipal festivals and special events that will bring diverse cultural opportunities to every corner of our community,” says Dunlap.
The program, announced Oct. 24 at the Division’s State of the Arts 2024 address in Fort Lauderdale, promotes community building along with economic growth.
“The commission recognized that there are many worthy cultural events in the county that are deserving of county support, and this helps ensure they grow and they’re here for many years to come,” says Dunlap.
Arts and culture groups frequently seek tourist development tax dollars for funding festivals and events, but Florida law closely regulates how that money can be spent.
Broward’s tourist bureau, which receives funding from a portion of hotel tax dollars, is not permitted to spend public money for events that don’t specifically promote tourism.
Still, statistics show that festivals have great appeal to tourists and locals alike.
“People travel for cultural tourism. They go places where they find events or interesting cultural idiosyncrasies of a particular destination,” says Stacy Ritter, president and CEO of Visit Lauderdale. “It brings tourists and we know they are interested in those kinds of events.”
That tourist appeal is a major reason why Broward commissioners funded the $1 million program.
“It doesn’t come from tourist development tax dollars, which is restricted by state statute. It comes from a different bucket of money that’s not restricted,” explains Ritter.
The county controls that other bucket and Dunlap says he and his division “have a lot more flexibility on how we spend those dollars.”
Those seeking the funds will apply through an application process, which Dunlap says, is much like its grant process.
“We’ll have a review panel, and we’ll fund what we believe is worth investing in, something that we should be supporting.”
Funding is open to organizations as well as municipalities in Broward County.
“The new program also looks to make space for new festivals and new events,” says Dunlap. “It can be a brand-new idea or it can be an established one or one that’s been going on for three, four, five or 10 years. We welcome them all.”
Maxence Doytier believes the Avenue of the Arts (AOTA) Fest is exactly the kind of event Broward wants to help fund.
“This cultural project is free to the public and allows the artists a seven-day time frame to paint their artwork designs to completion,” says AOTA Fest’s founder and director. "And it provides the public ample time to explore and meet the artists, some local and some traveling.” This year’s event is Sunday, Jan. 19 through Sunday, Jan. 26.
The festival has received funding from Broward Cultural Division since it began in 2023.
The total awarded amount any group receives will be no more than $50,000 per grant cycle. This year’s funded events must take place between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025.
“The distinguishing factor is that the organization’s primary mission needs to be arts and culture,” says Dunlap. “And the event that we’re funding, in addition to having to be located in Broward County, the primary focus or mission of that festival or special event needs to be arts and culture related, as well.”
The cultural division seeks to have festivals and special events throughout Broward, not just east of Interstate 95 in downtown Fort Lauderdale and on the beach, he says.
“Ultimately, what we’re looking to do is impact communities and neighborhoods and municipalities. We know that a lot of great work, a lot of great events and festivals happen in neighborhoods, happen in communities, happen in our cities.”
Another key component: the program seeks to prioritize local artists, vendors and small businesses.
Fund applicants will receive a bonus point in the scoring if their festival vendors are “majority local,” says Dunlap.
Dunlap also envisions that expanding festivals and special events will boost a different kind of tourism in Broward: “We want people to be tourists in their own community on some level. Explore different neighborhoods, communities, cities that they may not have gone to before.”
For application information, visit Broward.org/Arts.
Journalist Steve Rothaus covered LGBTQ issues for 22 years at the Miami Herald. @steve.rothaus on Threads.
This story was produced by Broward Arts Journalism Alliance (BAJA), an independent journalism program of the Broward County Cultural Division. Visit ArtsCalendar.com for more stories about the arts in South Florida.
