The ministry received 2,300 applications in the tenders from all over the country, and 1,397 applications were awarded funding.
Minister of Education and Culture István Hiller said one tender for HUF 200 million in grants for student trips that offer "exposure to the beauty of the past and the thinking of the Renaissance" allowed more than 45,000 students to participate in "Renaissance tours". The ministry received 509 applications for the funding and all of them were awarded money, with more than 80 percent receiving the full amount in their application.
Márta Schneider
Another tender, for HUF 320 million in grants for public arts, was won by 147 applicants or 72pc of the total, said state secretary Márta Schneider. Applicants from the less developed Northern Great Plains region of Hungary numbered 43 and were awarded HUF 63 million in grant money.
144 local councils were awarded HUF 100 million in grants to preserve and record their local history.
The PANKKK grants, which aim to support contemporary classical, jazz and folk musicians, awards went to 40 applicants to support their first album and to another 61 musicians who have already published their debut recording.
More than a hundred of Hungary's rural folk museums - about one-quarter of the total - applied for HUF 110 million in grants available as part of the Renaissance Year 2008 programme and 92 were awarded funding between HUF 500,000 and HUF 2.5 million.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) / Photo: Eszter Gordon
