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The Cultural Sector Emergency Relief Fund is now open. The Emergency Relief Fund is a fund of last resort which provides up to $5m to support cultural organisations, including sole traders, at clear risk of no longer operating viably.
Cultural Sector Emergency Relief Fund
The 50th anniversary of the presentation of the Māori language petition and Māori Language Day will be commemorated as a major anniversary next year, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni and Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson announced on 14 October 2021.
Government lays foundations as Māori Language Petition commemorations take shape for 2022
Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage is now accepting applications for the 2022 Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund, and communities across the motu are encouraged to apply for funding to support their local events. Applications for funding grants are open until Friday 22 October 2021.
Applications open for Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund
The Cultural Sector Innovation Fund provides $60 million over three years to support innovative projects that improve the sustainability and resilience of the sector. Round one of the Fund will be delivered through a nationwide events series, Te Urungi: Innovating Aotearoa. These immersive, collaborative events are designed to harness our collective creative energy and innovative spirit to fuel bold ideas that enable arts, culture and heritage to thrive.
Join us in innovating Aotearoa through a series of 14 regional events held across the country
12 October 2021, marks the 25th anniversary of the first general election held under the mixed member proportional (MMP) voting system in Aotearoa New Zealand, says Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. It was the most dramatic change to the country’s electoral system since the introduction of women’s suffrage one hundred years earlier.
Celebrating a quarter century of MMP
Wellington Heritage Week celebrates its fifth year during 25–31 October with over 60 events across the Wellington region’s five districts.
Wellington Heritage Week 2021 this October
Manatū Taonga is developing a Long-Term Insights Briefing (LTIB) on the topic of cultural sector infrastructure. The LTIB is a way for the public to contribute meaningfully on what matters the most for the future of New Zealand. It uses a futures lens to help understand the drivers of change and the long-term issues or challenges shaping the future development of policy.
Long-Term Insights Briefing Cultural Sector
Te Tai Treaty Settlement Stories has released a bilingual suite of teaching and learning tools designed to help students and teachers explore their own personal connections to te reo Māori. Through this resource, learners will explore their place in the history of Waitangi Tribunal claims about te reo Māori and the wider Māori language revitalisation movement. Students will develop their understanding of themes like Whakapapa, Tūrangawaewae, Whanaungatanga, Mana Motuhake, and Kaitiakitanga through studying the history of te reo Māori.
Te Mana o te Reo Māori — He Rauemi Marau/Education Resources
This page provides links to guidance and support for the arts and culture sector during COVID-19 Alert Levels. For general guidance visit the official COVID-19 website.  
COVID-19 resources and links for our sector

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Kāinga Te tuakiri, te taonga tuku iho o Aotearoa Ngā whakamaharatanga me ngā huritau

Commemorations & anniversaries

Commemoration means marking an important historical event on or around a meaningful anniversary. Commemoration brings people together in physical and virtual spaces to reflect on the past and its relevance to the present. There doesn’t have to be a formal remembrance ceremony or a physical monument – commemoration could involve sharing historical information through a website, or creating artistic works that respond to an anniversary, for example.

The New Zealand Government has a policy on commemoration of historical anniversaries, first developed in 2009 and updated in 2014. Under this policy, a list of anniversaries to be commemorated is agreed several years in advance. This allows coordination and planning of government involvement in commemoration to take place.

Under the policy, anniversaries are categorised as either Tier 1 or Tier 2. Tier 1 (major) anniversaries relate to events whose impact was felt throughout the nation or changed New Zealand significantly. There should be a significant level of cross-government involvement in marking Tier 1 anniversaries. Tier 2 anniversaries concern events that were still important but had less national impact.

Occasionally, as with the centenary of the First World War from 2014-2019, dedicated funding may be available to support commemorations. However, most commemorative activity (particularly for Tier 2 anniversaries) is funded from within departmental baselines.

Anniversaries on the Government’s list should generally be:

  • of significance to the nation as a whole
  • of events that took place in New Zealand, involved New Zealanders or have a clear connection to New Zealand
  • a multiple of 25 years since the event in question (e.g. 25th, 50th, 100th anniversaries)
  • representative of the diversity of New Zealanders’ historical experiences.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 anniversaries for 2014-2021

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage is currently looking at refreshing the commemorations policy and extending the list of anniversaries beyond 2021.

Other commemorations

Some commemorations take place annually: for example, Waitangi Day commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and Anzac Day commemorates New Zealanders’ involvement in war.

Pukeahu National War Memorial Park also hosts a number of annual military commemorations. All national commemorations scheduled for 2021 will appear on the Pukeahu news and events pages in due course. 

Te Pūtake o te Riri, He Rā Maumhara, was observed for the first time in 2018. It is the national day of commemoration for the New Zealand Wars, and takes place on 28 October. Visit Te Puni Kōkiri’s website for more information about this commemoration, and about Te Pūtake o te Riri | Wars and Conflicts in New Zealand Fund.

There are many important anniversaries every year, and it is not possible to include them all on the government’s commemorations programme. Organisations outside government may decide to mark these anniversaries, and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage is always happy to hear about community-led commemorations. The Ministry may, for example, be able to publicise such commemorations through its online channels.

New Zealanders' views on commemoration

In 2019, Colmar Brunton conducted a public opinion survey for the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, looking at New Zealanders’ views on commemoration. The final report on the survey's findings is available here (PDF 3.36 MB).

Updated on 27th January 2021