Wanaka arts event the Festival of Colour has benefited from three major grants from various community arts organisations.
Central Lakes Trust and the Community Trust of Otago have contributed grants totalling $110,000 to help back the Southern Lakes Festival of Colour 2009.
Festival director Philip Tremewen said the two organisations had been major stakeholders since the two-yearly event started in 2005.
Next year would be the third time the event had been held and planning was well under way on the programme, he said.
Government arts body Creative New Zealand has also pledged $70,000 for new works and artist commissions for the 2009 festival.
Mr Tremewen said the national arts body's contribution had increased year after year and this demonstrated the high esteem in which the festival's creative content was held.
The trustees of Wanaka's arts foundation, the Sargood Bequest, had also shown their continued support with a contribution to the schools' programme and an annual donation for general costs, he said.
"We are delighted to have received such a massive thumbs-up from these grants."
Securing funding was a vital part of the planning stage and helped in the development of the festival programme.
"It is a tough year, economically, and although we already have support from some major private sponsors we know that it will be harder this year to get corporate sponsorship," he said.
Last year's main corporate sponsors, Infinity Investments Ltd and Lake Wanaka Tourism, had confirmed their continuing support, and Aurora Energy was a new gold sponsor, Mr Tremewen said.
The next Festival of Colour will be held from April 28 to May 3, 2009.
