- Hon Carmel Sepuloni
Vaccinated New Zealanders can look forward to Kiwi summer events with confidence, while artists and crew will have more certainty, following the launch of details of the Arts and Culture Event Support Scheme, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni announced today.
“The Government recognises that the arts and culture sector has been hit hard by COVID-19 and the Delta outbreak. The pandemic continues to pose challenges for the sector, especially live events and performances during summer,” Carmel Sepuloni said.
“This Arts and Culture Even Support Scheme is about providing certainty for event organisers, confidence for vaccinated New Zealanders to attend and enjoy events, and reassurance for artists and crew that they can get paid if their events can’t go ahead as planned.
“I know that artists, crew and organisers are all eager to get back to doing what they love – putting on great events of all sizes and scope for New Zealanders. Knowing that this scheme exists to support them will be a big help over coming months.”
The Arts and Culture Event Support Scheme covers events with attendee capacity of 100-5000 ticketed or un-ticketed, or more than 5000 un-ticketed (i.e. free). The scheme covers unrecoverable costs, payments yet to be made to the likes of artists and production crew, and reasonable costs to the promoter or organiser for the planning and development of the event.
“We’ve engaged closely with our arts and culture sector to develop the scheme, and we’ll continue to work closely with the sector to ensure organisers know when, where and how to access the support they need.
“Events will need to use the Government’s My Vaccine Pass, in order to be eligible for the scheme. This is particularly important so that other vaccinated New Zealanders can enjoy confidence that the events they’ll attend will be as safe as possible.
“Arts and culture are critically important to our economy. Our $374 million COVID recovery package for the sector, including the $37.5 million Emergency Relief Package announced in September, underlines the social, economic and cultural value of the sector.
“I encourage New Zealanders to get out, enjoy the Kiwi summer and the freedoms it’ll bring, book tickets, make plans to attend events and support local artists, musicians and shows
“We all deserve to enjoy summer in Aotearoa with certainty and confidence. That’s what this scheme is about and aims to guarantee,” Carmel Sepuloni said.
The registration process opens at 12pm Wednesday December 1. Event organisers need to register their event with MCH as soon as possible, so they can confirm their event’s eligibility before their event date. To register for the scheme, please visit
