Auckland's mayor is promising to secure the financial future of the Polyfest schools cultural competition.
The annual Maori and Pacific festival is struggling with the loss of $150,000 in government sponsorship.
Speakers at this year's opening ceremony on Wednesday called on Len Brown to step in with long-term funding.
Mr Brown says the council will review its funding for Polyfest and look at reducing charges for rubbish removal and resource consents.
He plans to call a meeting of government and private funders to secure long-term support.
Mr Brown says the government has pulled out of a lot of cultural activities in Auckland and the council doesn't have a bottomless purse to fill the gap.
Organisers say in the meantime they have plugged some of the shortfall with one-off grants from gaming trusts.
However, they say the funding shortfall means a rainy day and reduced gate takings would plunge the festival into the red.
More than 9,000 students from 59 Auckland schools are taking part in this year's festival over four days.