Ceredigion County Council will set aside £1.5m to bring events to the county over the next three years.

Council Cabinet members, meeting on Tuesday, 6 May, have been asked to sign off on plans to take £1.5m from a reserve fund earmarked for growing the economy to facilitate the plan.

Report papers said that the fund “would be used as a fund of last resort, where other funding has not been secured, and where it is deemed a substantial economic, social and cultural benefit may be missed for Ceredigion if an event was not able to continue.”

Ceredigion County Council said it hoped that any funding pumped into bringing and keeping events in the county would bring in six times the cost to the local economy.

Report papers outline that while the number of visitors to Ceredigion has been growing on a long term trend, “one weakness is that the average spend per day per visitor figure for Ceredigion has traditionally been relatively low compared to other areas in Wales.”

“The average visitor spend per day is a key performance indicator, representing the success by which the tourism economy can bring money into the local economy, and thus drive quality jobs and sustainable businesses and careers,” the report said.

The most recent figures available for 2019 suggested that average visitor spend per day was around £50 for Ceredigion – compared with £96 for Powys.

An assessment of the impact of Rali Ceredigion on the county’s economy from 2024 showed that it brought in 34,750 spectators, a global audience of 82m and had a £4.62m economic impact.

The report said that “whilst the events delivered in Ceredigion over the past three years have delivered significant benefits to the economy, they often require a source of public funding to be viable to deliver.”

A report to be put before Cabinet members says: “Ceredigion’s Economic Strategy sets out an ambition to make Ceredigion a vibrant place for events.

“Since the launch of the Strategy, Ceredigion has hosted several events of varying sizes – of local, regional, national and international significance.

“Examples over the past three years include the National Eisteddfod, hosted in Tregaron, Rali Ceredigion, Craft Festival, Wales, Festival of Other Voices, Aberystwyth Comedy Festival.

“Many of these events have been supported by external funding sources, notably the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) events programme during 2023 and 2024.

“Over £700,000 has been spent from the UKSPF events fund to support events to date.

“During 2025, a range of national and international events are again due to take place in Ceredigion , including the British Road Cycling Championships, Festival of Other voices and Rali Ceredigion, which will again form part of the European Rally Championship series.

“Building on the current vibrancy, Ceredigion has the potential to be the home of future signature events that take advantage of the natural and heritage resources that we have available, and build on the natural strengths and interests of the County and its people.”