A world famous art festival has been awarded almost £1 million towards its work showcasing upcoming talent.

The Whitstable Biennale will receive £960,000 over four years between 2018 and 2022 from Arts Council England, which selected the organisation as part of its new National Portfolio.

The festival, launched in 2002, showcases contemporary visual art and takes place every two years around the town.

It has won critical acclaim for giving exciting artists, performers and filmmakers a platform, with many going on to forge successful careers nationally and internationally.

Spokesman Simon Steven says the Biennale was the first of its kind in the county, coming before the Turner Contemporary and popular Folkestone Triennale.

“That money could have gone anywhere in the country and it came here, we’ve done really well,” he said. “It was a very small festival before director Sue Jones took it over in 2002. She’s made it into what it is today.”

He says most of the money it uses pays for commissions, bringing in young artists and funding community projects.

The latest funding from Arts Council England will help it continue to bring the festival to Whitstable and extend its work into north Kent.

The most recent festival in 2016 attracted almost 50,000 visits to the main programme of events and around 20,000 additional visits to the festival fringe.

During the two weeks, art fans enjoy installations in halls, huts, galleries and bars, in the harbour, on the beach and even the alleyways.

The dates of the next festival in 2018 will be announced shortly. Another winner in the Arts Council grants was the Gulbenkian Theatre which won more than £1 million for projects involving the young, including the bOing festival. However, there was disappointing news for the Canterbury Festival that as been dropped from the Arts Council portfolio and lost £140,000 in funding.

However, festival director Rosie Turner remained upbeat, thanking the council for previous funding, and saying it was "business as usual at Festival House".