The Government has today announced a $10 million Domestic Events Fund to save local events and jobs, which venues and suppliers will see direct benefit from.

Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford today announced that the Government has established a new $10 million fund for the events sector to help protect incomes and losses created by the impacts of COVID-19.

Read the Minister's Media Release here.

The fund will help to support the delivery of specific events which are socially, culturally, or economically significant for New Zealand. The intention is that by supporting the delivery of events, this will stimulate the sector more broadly - including venues and industry suppliers.

The fund aims to support those events that provide the greatest flow-on benefit to regional economies, and will provide needed cash-flow within the sector throughout the supply chain.

Who can access this new fund?

To be eligible for the Domestic Events Fund, events must be:

• Existing events that are considered regionally or nationally significant and have been significantly impacted by COVID-19, and where support is needed for these events to be able to sustainably re-start or re-scale
• Where supporting the event will help retain sector-critical event organisers and suppliers for the long-term viability of the industry.

How to apply:

Details of the Fund and the application form will be available through the New Zealand Major Events website on July 3.

The Major Events team will work with local government to make sure events that receive funding are those that create the greatest impact in supporting all areas of New Zealand, through regional economies and jobs.

Working Together

EVANZ has been working alongside colleagues from other Associations to achieve a result for the entire sector. Support from other Associations will be critical. Conventions & Incentives New Zealand (CINZ) Chief Executive, Lisa Hopkins, is one such partner who truly understands the importance of the event eco-system and the need to bring together organisations, talents and people to pull an event together.

“Like EVANZ, CINZ members know it takes an army to create a successful event and we need great venues, technicians, event stylists, entertainers and other agencies to work in unison to make that happen. One of the objectives of this fund is to enable event organisers to support the event eco-system with immediate financial support.”

Next Steps

Whilst venues and Associate Members will see the impact of this fund with more events able to go ahead, there is still no direct funding to address the immediate problems venues are facing. We made this very clear to Minister Twyford and are continuing to lobby for targetted funds.