The creative industry has been hit particularly hard by Covid-19 restrictions. The Arts and Culture Event Support Scheme has a fund of up to $22.5 million to provide confidence to organisers of events scheduled on or before 3rd April 2022. If your event cannot go ahead as planned, you can still get paid.
The Scheme covers:
- Non-recoverable event costs such as cancellation fees or non-refundable deposits that have already been paid or are owing to suppliers (i.e. venue or equipment hire deposits)
- Reasonable costs incurred by the event organiser in the planning and development of the event.
- Full payments for artists, performers and production crew as if the event had occurred.
Eligibility:
- Be an arts and cultural sector event, where the audience has chosen to attend the event primarily for the purpose of seeing performances or presentations of art or culture
- Be scheduled to take place between 17 December 2021 and 3 April 2022 and be able to demonstrate a financial commitment to the scheduled event dates as of 29 November 2021 (the day before the Scheme was announced)
- Have an attendee capacity of 100 – 5,000 ticketed or un-ticketed, or 5,000+ un-ticketed (i.e. free).
- Not be eligible for the Events Transition Support Payment scheme, administered by MBIE, which is designed to support larger, paid-ticketed events with over 5,000 attendees
- Be based in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Be able to provide proof of the organisation’s current status, and/or a New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) for Sole Traders
- Not be delivered or funded solely by Local government or other public authorities. However, events can be partly funded by these entities
- Require all attendees to hold a current COVID Vaccine Pass and follow all COVID-19 Protection Framework rules.
Arts and culture events include:
- Gigs
- Music Festivals
- Performing Arts
- Exhibitions (that are reliant on ticket sales to cover costs)
- Cultural Festivals
- The performance component of a non-cultural festival where the performance is a major audience draw.
Register at least 21 days before the first day of your event.
Please contact the Ministry of Culture and Heritage at support.culture@mch.govt.nz if you require information in a different format or you have further questions about the Scheme or the registration process.
List of Arts and Culture Event Support Scheme approved recipients to date:
| Event Name | Applicant | Location(s) |
| Ending HIV Big Gay Out | New Zealand AIDS Foundation | Auckland |
| Good as Gold Festival | Thomas Bowey Limited | Auckland |
| Nightside – 12 hour day to night rave | Cameron Bavin | Auckland |
| Shakespeare in the Park 2022 | Shoreside Theatre Incorporated | Auckland |
| Silent Night Deadly Night – all ages Christmas Show | Robert Mahoney | Auckland |
| The Auckland Art Show | Jackfish Ltd | Auckland |
| The Others Way | The Others Way Limited | Auckland |
| Gopal Bhatia presents Magical Pancham | Gopal Krishna Bhatia | Auckland |
| Britomart Block Party NYE 2021 | BHC TRADING LIMITED | Auckland |
| Haus of Yolo | The Dust Palace Productions Ltd | Auckland |
| APO concerts in February and March 2022 | Auckland Philharmonia Trust | Auckland |
| Highlife New Years Eve Festival 2021 | Highlife Entertainment Limited | Auckland |
| Groove in the Grapes 2022 | Velocity Consulting Group Ltd trading as Turanga Creek Wedding and Events | Auckland |
| Island Time | Endeavour Live Limited | Auckland |
| Lychee Baybee | All My Friends Limited | Auckland |
| Auckland Pride Festival | Auckland Pride Festival Inc | Auckland |
| Olive Copperbottom: a Dickensian tale of love, gin and the pox | Penelope Ashton | Auckland |
| Comedians of Taskmaster | Live Nation Australasia Pty Ltd | Auckland |
| Opera on the Harbour | New Zealand Opera | Auckland |
| Shihad | Live Nation Australasia Pty Ltd | Auckland |
| Flamingo Pier Waiheke Festival 2022 | Flamingo Pier Limited | Auckland |
| Dogfight’ the musical | Bravi Theatre | Auckland |
| The Creeps | Courtney Eggleton | Auckland |
| Nympho | Nympho | Auckland |
| Freqs out East | Freq Group Limited | Auckland |
| The Nether | Alexander Dan Marris | Auckland |
| 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (presented by Dynamotion) | Lara Judith Fischel Liew | Auckland |
| Reb Fountain | Live Nation Australasia Pty Ltd | Auckland |
| St Patrick’s Festival | St Patrick’s Festival Trust | Auckland |
| California 90s tribute tour | Waxstar Ltd | Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin |
| Aussie, Aussie, Aussie | Waxstar Ltd | Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty |
| K Motionz | Endeavour Live Limited | Auckland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay and Wellington |
| 1991 | Endeavour Live Limited | Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown-Lakes |
| Waterbourne / Sub Focus | Endeavour Live Limited | Bay of Plenty |
| The Seafarer’s Playground | Events Innovated Ltd | Bay of Plenty |
| Aronui indigenous arts festival | Aronui Arts Festival Charitable Trust | Bay of Plenty |
| First we eat – Tauranga 2022 | Trademark Live Limited | Bay of Plenty |
| Beast of a Feast | Beast of a Feast Limited | Bay of Plenty |
| CSO presents Raiders of the Lost Ark | Christchurch Symphony Trust | Canterbury |
| Lamb & Hayward Masterworks – Dangerous Liaisons | Christchurch Symphony Trust | Canterbury |
| Jesus Christ Superstar | Ashburton Performing Arts Theatre Trust | Canterbury |
| Rolling Meadows | Sub180 Entertainment Ltd | Canterbury |
| Jolt Dance, CSO and CMNZ present The Seasons | Chamber Music New Zealand Trust | Canterbury |
| UCSA Toga Party | University of Canterbury Students’ Association Incorporated | Canterbury |
| UCSA The Froth | University of Canterbury Students’ Association Incorporated | Canterbury |
| UCSA Summer Stein | University of Canterbury Students’ Association Incorporated | Canterbury |
| UCSA Mardi Gras | University of Canterbury Students’ Association Incorporated | Canterbury |
| Art Deco Festival Napier 2022 | Art Deco Trust Incorporated | Hawke’s Bay |
| Sub Focus Napier | Endeavour Live Limited | Hawke’s Bay |
| First we eat – Napier 2022 | Trademark Live Limited | Hawke’s Bay |
| Outfield Music, Food & Arts Festival | Bay Music Group Ltd | Hawke’s Bay |
| The Magic Flute | Festival Opera Ltd | Hawke’s Bay |
| Lou’ana Moonlight Madness tour | An Emerald City LTD | Hawke’s Bay |
| Pirate Kai | The Drama Workshop Ltd | Hawke’s Bay and Wellington |
| We Will Rock You – the musical | Palmerston North Operatic Society Inc | Manawatu-Whanganui |
| Golden Sounds | Endeavour Live Limited | Marlborough |
| Havelock Mussel Festival | Havelock Mussel Festival Incorporated | Marlborough |
| Adam Summer Celebration | Nelson Music Festival Trust | Nelson |
| The Nutcracker | Primarily Dance Trust | Nelson |
| Footloose | Whangarei Theatre Company Inc | Northland |
| Dimension Festival | Phat Productions Trading Ltd | Northland |
| BOI Music Festival | Jacman Entertainment Ltd | Northland |
| Sub Focus Dunedin | Endeavour Live Limited | Otago |
| Aspiring Conversations | Southern Lakes Arts Festival Trust | Queenstown-Lakes |
| Hybrid Minds & Koven – Queenstown | Trademark Live Limited | Queenstown-Lakes |
| King Beats Charity Music Festival | King Beats Festival Limited | Queenstown-Lakes |
| Arrowtown Burns Supper and Ceilidh Dance | Electrotechnical Service Ltd | Queenstown-Lakes |
| Aronui Indigenous Arts Festival | Aronui Arts Festival Charitable Trust | Rotorua |
| Yatra Festival 2022 | Spacecraft Studio Ltd | Tasman |
| Fields Festival | Remix Media Ltd | Waikato |
| Club Festivus | Live Nation Australasia Pty Ltd | Waikato |
| That weekend | TFB Productions Ltd | Waikato |
| Coro Summer Fest | Matthew Sephton | Waikato |
| The Beach Ball with Broods, Flamingo Pier & Imugi | An Emerald City LTD | Waikato, Tasman, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty and Northland |
| Let it go – the songs of Frozen in concert | Showcase Entertainment Group Ltd | Wairarapa, Wellington, Tasman and Christchurch |
| The Greatest Drag Show | Alexander Kachfi | Wellington |
| Soho Cinders | The Wellington Footlights Society Incorporated | Wellington |
| Sub Focus Wellington | Endeavour Live Limited | Wellington |
| Mako Road | Eccles Entertainment Ltd | Wellington |
| Lunar New Year Festival – Wellington 2022 | Asian Events Trust | Wellington |
| Amici Ensembe with Jian Liu | Waikanae Music Society Incorporated | Wellington |
| The Performance Arcade 2022 | The Performance Arcade Trust | Wellington |
| Tora Bombora festival | Louis Murphy-Harris | Wellington |
| Chase and Status, Hybrid Minds, Koven & more | Trademark Live Limited | Wellington |
Updated 28 January 2022
