NZ Intl. Comedy Festival Artist Relief Fund

In March, the New Zealand Comedy Trust made the devastating decision to cancel the 2020 NZ International Comedy Festival, due to to the COVID-19 situation and in the interest of everyone's safety.

We are deeply concerned about artist's and industry's financial welfare and wellbeing. Making a living in the arts in New Zealand is already difficult, with many of our performers living gig to gig, and paycheck to paycheck, without the savings to keep them afloat in unprecedented circumstances such as this.

With over 200+ artists involved in the Comedy Fest relying on income from their show, this cancellation has a huge impact on their yearly earnings. Combined with the significant money some have already spent on their Festival seasons, our comedy community is now facing a period of immense financial uncertainty and hardship.

HOW WILL THE MONEY BE DISTRIBUTED?

All money donated during this fundraiser will go towards our local Comedy Fest comedians for costs they’ve already invested in their Festival shows. Collectively, the 2020 Comedy Festival artists have invested more than $100,000 into the creation of their Festival season, with marketing, design and printing, travel, ticketing charges and production being just some of the costs our comics have already paid as preparation for bringing their shows to you. We will spread this as fairly as possible to make sure we can lighten the load just a little bit for as many people as possible.

The New Zealand Comedy Trust are also contributing to artist welfare by committing to refunding all Festival registration fees and venue hire deposits. We are strongly advocating for our artists, technicians, producers, venues, suppliers and all of our Festival whānau to get the support and assistance they need. Our team are investigating creative ways of getting comedy to you in 2020.

We hope that while this will be an incredibly difficult period for our organisation, our artists, our venues, our suppliers, our crew and the entire arts industry, we can make it through together. Our aim is to bring live art and comedy to you for many years to come.

We realise that a great many Kiwis have been terribly impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 situation and lockdown. If you are able to give your support at this time to our artists we are very grateful, but please only give if you are able. We look forward to bringing good times and laughter back to you, when it’s safe to do so.

If you are interested in directly donating to the New Zealand Comedy Trust and helping secure the future of the NZ International Comedy Festival, please do so here: https://givealittle.co.nz/org/nzcomedytrust

Donations are tax deductible.