Culture Recovery Fund: Glastonbury and independent cinemas among recipients of £400m funding

Judi Dench is among the stars who have backed the funding allocations

Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in 2019 (AFP via Getty Images)

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has announced that nearly £400m will be offered to help cultural organisations recover in the wake of the pandemic.

On Friday (2 April), the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced that more than 2,700 arts, culture and heritage organisations would benefit from the recovery fund in either grant or loan form in order to allow them to reopen this summer.

Among the recipients are Glastonbury Festival, which will receive £900,000 to help the festival return in its full form next year. Organisers Michael and Emily Eavis said they were “extremely grateful” for the funding.

£6.5m has been given by the British Film Institute to 209 independent cinemas across the UK.

An additional £81 million is being offered in loans for cultural landmarks.

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The move was backed by Dame Judi Dench, who has spoken publicly about her fears for the future of the arts, as well as Dame Julie Walters, Stephen Fry and Hugh Bonneville.

Dench said: “Local cinemas are a vital part of our cultural lives, enthralling us with films about lives that we recognise as well as offering us stories about other cultures from around the world.

“They are places where people come together for a shared experience and have inspired many to make their careers on screen. We need to make sure that generations today and in the future have the same opportunities to enjoy and take part in the communal big screen experience.”

This block of funding is part of the £1.57bn recovery fund announced by Dowden in July, of which more than 70 per cent of funding was allocated out of London.