AN ARTS recovery plan is under way to help the cultural and events industry through the Covid-19 crisis.

The plan, part-funded by Brighton and Hove City Council, will explore how the arts can recover from loss of income as a result of the pandemic.

The city usually hosts some 60 festivals a year but social distancing restrictions introduced by the government forced organisers to cancel the events.

The biggest include Brighton Festival and Brighton Fringe which last year contributed about £20 million to the local economy.

The last Brighton Pride attracted 300,000 people to the parade while the two annual Artists Open House events involved 15,000 artists and makers at 180 venues on 14 different trails.

As The Argus exclusively reported last week, the cancellation of live events has left a £23 million hole in the council budget.

Now the authority is working with “creative minds” from the arts and events industry, to produce an arts recovery plan to run over the next three years.

Councillor Marianna Ebel, who jointly chairs the tourism, equalities, communities and culture committee, said the council understood how hard the sector has been hit by the pandemic.

She said: “We have such a vibrant and exciting culture in Brighton and Hove and it has been inspiring to see how organisations, artists and venues have used their creativity to adapt and continue to make us feel close to each other, through sharing cultural experiences.

“We don’t under-estimate the serious effect the pandemic has had on the sector however and we are committed to helping draw funding into the city.”

The plan, which is due to be completed in November, will and explore how the city’s public and cultural spaces can be adapted and used by the industry.

In May, the council’s policy and resources sub-committee agreed to the distribution of £3.68 million allocated to the city council by government, as discretionary grants to businesses.

A total of £935,000 was awarded to more than 100 arts and events organisations in June and July, with a further £747,500 awarded to 50 leisure businesses.

In July, 61 Brighton and Hove organisations received emergency funds from Arts Council England with grants of up to £35,000.

Emergency funds were awarded to national performance companies such as the Brighton Dome and Festival and The Lighthouse.

Cllr Ebel said: “We also want to support the arts and creative industries commission with a recovery plan that will pave the way back for our colourful creative and culture sector.”