Tourism Noosa to decide on food and wine festival funding

TOURISM Noosa will tonight begin deciding who will run Noosa's iconic food and wine festival.

Applications for sponsorship of an event celebrating the region's "culinary and produce offerings" closed on Monday.

While Tourism Noosa CEO Damien Massingham said he could not confirm who had applied to run the event, the Daily understands at least two proposals had been received.  

"The applications received are now being reviewed," Mr Massingham said.

A decision on the winning applicant would not necessarily be made today, as it was common process for the Board to request additional information, he said.

"We review events on a regular basis and we sometimes have to go back for more information. That's a normal part of the process," he said.

"The decision will be made in the near future and it'll be done once all of the review process has been completed."

Mr Massingham said he could not say the amount of funding at stake. However its decision will be pivotal for the future of the festival.

Tourism Noosa was one of four tourism sponsors of the 2015 Noosa International Food and Wine Festival, and as the region's marketing body it distributes the majority of funds collected by the Noosa Shire Council's environment levy.

As reported in the Daily, the company managing the NIFW festival and Berardo's Restaurant collapsed in May.

A new company directed by 2015 festival director Jim Berardo was formed in June and last month bought the intellectual property rights for the NIFW festival name and domain name. Mr Berardo has said he intends to continue running the festival, while suppliers of last year's festival who are still owed money have expressed concern.

Tourism Noosa advertised for sponsorship applications earlier this month.

Source: Sunshine Coast Daily, Nicky Moffat, 24^th September 2015
Originally published as: Tourism Noosa to decide on food and wine festival funding