Renzo Piano’s open-air theatre in Valletta will be buzzing with activity next year even though the project was given a 2013 deadline.
The Budget allocates €500,000 to a number of festivals and art-related activities, including an arts programme linked to the theatre.
The theatre is part of the Valletta regeneration project that the Finance Minister said was proceeding very well.
Money will also be spent on a Children’s Arts Festival and a Baroque Music Festival.
Allocations to the National Orchestra, the Manoel Theatre, St James Cavalier and the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts will be increased.
A total of €7.7 million will be allocated to public cultural entities, an increase of €500,000.
The cultural sector will be given more incentives to organise itself.
New cultural companies will be exempt from paying registration fees and will also be freed from making annual payments to the Malta Financial Services Authority for the first three years.
€250,000
The sum being allocated to the development of the Maltese film industry
Several measures have been launched to draw the country nearer to its hosting of the European Capital of Culture in 2018, with €250,000 allocated to continue preparations.
“We acknowledge this event is more than a series of cultural activities.
“It is an extensive process during which we will strengthen our structures, increase cultural participation and apreciation and promote Malta as a centre of culture and creativity.
“Above all, this is a process that will generate new employment opportunities in the cultural sector and a stronger demand for a high-level cultural experience,” the minister said.
Next year, Malta will host the European Film Academy Awards, which the minister said would help the countryconsolidate its reputation and also serve as a good advertisement.
A sum of €250,000 is being allocated to the development of the Maltese film industry.
The Budget also sees €700,000 allocated to the Corradino carnival facility that enthusiasts have long been asking for to store their floats.