Baden secures La Gacilly photo festival for three more years

Baden’s La Gacilly photo festival will continue for three more years after the city council unanimously approved the extension, ORF reported. The festival will receive annual city funding of 194,000 euros, along with support in the form of staff hours for tasks such as setting up exhibitions.

The funding will be lower than in previous years as Baden, like many other municipalities, faces the need to make savings, according to the report.

The council has also discussed heritage protection because many photographs are displayed on listed buildings. Most of the current arrangement will remain unchanged, partly because of the festival route. Where changes are possible, organisers will look for alternative locations or make adjustments.

Mayor Carmen Jeitler-Cincelli said the festival’s precise economic impact could not be quantified, but that it had a very positive effect on Baden’s image, restaurants, hotels and the city centre.

Festival director Lois Lammerhuber welcomed the unanimous decision, describing it as a commitment to culture. In addition to the city’s funding, the festival receives about 80,000 euros a year from the state of Lower Austria.

The Austrian National Library will join the festival as a partner for the next three years. For the festival’s tenth anniversary next year, organisers plan to focus on the theme “200 years of photography”.