Tourism Fund grants for the second quarter of this year increased by 17 per cent quarter-to-quarter, reaching MOP495,800 (US$62,076) vis-a-vis MOP423,000 (US$52,961) in the first quarter of 2016, according to information published in the Official Gazette yesterday. A total of 37 local associations received grants from the Tourism Fund during the quarter, with 67 per cent of overall funding granted to the Associação de Beneficência «Quatro Pagodes» de Coloane and the Associação de Mútuo AuxÃlio dos Moradores do Bairro de San Kio, which received MOP100,000 and MOP231,800, respectively. The grants to the two associations were to fund Cantonese Opera and religious events, with the majority of the overall grants from the Tourism Fund used for the same purposes. The third largest grant during the quarter was to Associação Musical Tuna Macaense, who received MOP60,000, to hold the Macanese Band Music Carnival (Espetáculo de Música Variada do Conjunto Musical). The other 34 associations receiving grants each collected MOP3,000 from the Fund, primarily for holding Cantonese Opera events. C.U.
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