The Victorian Government is backing the return of a packed calendar of crowd-pleasing public events in regional and rural areas in 2022, bringing thousands of visitors and creating local jobs.

The $20 million Regional Events Fund will open for applications on Monday, with organisers of festivals, sports events, exhibitions and other attractions encouraged to consider making an application for support.

Funding is available for the attraction, development, marketing and growth of public events across Victoria.

Since 2016, the Regional Events Fund has supported more than 250 events including one of Australia’s most loved and longest running cultural events, the Queenscliff Music Festival.

Other annual regional events which have been supported by the fund include The Lost Trades Fair, the Winton SuperSprint and the Chillout Festival, a significant driver of tourism in the Daylesford and Macedon Ranges region.

This year, the RONE exhibition in Geelong attracted visitors in the thousands, providing a significant boost to the local economy.

The fund will provide up to $1 million to support costs associated with securing, marketing and delivering an event of international or national significance and has the capacity to attract large-scale visitation. Up to $500,000 is available to assist with the implementation of innovative strategies to increase visitation for existing events.

Regional events that have been affected by the global pandemic, bushfires, floods, or economic change are eligible for $50,000 under a dedicated Event Industry Support category.

The $20 million commitment to the Regional Events Fund is part of the $633 million Visitor Economy Recovery and Reform Plan which aims to boost annual visitor expenditure to $35 billion by June 2024, supporting 300,000 jobs.

For eligibility details and information on how to apply