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Events Fund

We're committed to supporting a balanced portfolio of events across the district. This includes providing an annual contestable events fund that is open for both commercial and community events.

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2026-2027 Events Fund

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Previous Fund Recipients

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2026-2027 Events Fund

The 2026-2027 Events Fund is for people looking to organise events that benefit the community. The fund is open to both commercial and community-level events. It supports events that are committed to environmental sustainability, economic impact, event diversity, and positive community benefits. 

The 2026-2027 Events Fund has a total pool of $250,000, reflecting the funding allocation set in the QLDC Annual Plan.

A panel of councillors assessed the applications in May, with final decisions approved by Full Council at the 25 June 2026 meeting. All applicants will be notified of the outcome by 1 July.

Please see a list of recipients for the Events Fund 2026-2027 and fund guidelines below:

Applications for this funding round took place during 1-30 April 2026 through the SmartyGrants platform

Previous Fund Recipients

Our 2025-2026 events funding recipients were:

$30,000 and over

  • Queenstown Marathon $35,000

Under $30,000

  • Arrowtown Autumn Festival $25,000

  • Challenge Wānaka $25,000

  • Ripe – Wānaka Wine and Food Festival $25,000

  • Warbirds Over Wānaka $25,000

  • Motatapu $20,000

  • Wānaka A & P Show $20,000

  • Global Games $16,000

  • Lake Hayes A & P Show $15,000

  • Michael Hill International Violin $12,000

  • Central Lakes Polyfest $11,000

  • Aspiring Conversations $10,000

  • Natural Selection Bike Aotearoa $10,000

  • New Zealand Open $10,000

  • Queenstown Multicultural Festival $8,000

  • Gin Festival Arrowtown $8,000

  • New Zealand Mountain Film Festival $7,000

  • Wao Summit $5,000

We continue to work in partnership with our sustainability and climate action teams to develop and support events' sustainability measures.