Cancellations, Job Losses and Not Enough Support: The Impact 'Red' Has on the Art, Music and Events Sector: January 25, 2022

Following the government’s announcement that Aotearoa would move to the red setting of the traffic light system on Monday 24 January, a number of events were forced to cancel or postpone. This is yet another massive blow to the music, arts and events industry, whose artists and workers have spent the last two years of the pandemic struggling to find consistent work and promoters have had to cancel or change the dates for their events multiple times. 

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston reaches out to a few people working in the performance art sector who have been impacted by the red setting. Firstly, Jemima speaks to Director of Splore John Minty, Director of Freqs Out East Dan Hesson and Director of The Others Way Mathew Davis, who are all promoters for summer festivals that have had to cancel or postpone due to the shift to the red light setting. They discuss how the pandemic has affected events and whether the exisitng events support schemes are enough to get the people involved in the industry through the Omicron outbreak. 

Secondly, Jemima chats to artist and musician Jazmine Mary who says there is no support available for artists who have effectively lost their jobs under the red setting and cannot access the wage subsidy. Jazmine has penned a letter to the Prime Minister and submitted a parliamentary petition request to call for support for artists and musicians in Aotearoa unable to work under 'red'. They explain what sort of financial support is needed and how the public can help their call for action from the government. 

To check out the follow up podcast on this issue, click here.