The Auckland Lantern Festival has been cancelled due to New Zealand's move to the red traffic light setting.
Photo: 123RF / Natalia Catalina
The festival crowns a fortnight of Chinese New Year festivities and was to be held at Auckland Showgrounds from 10 February to 13 February.
It can only be held at orange or green traffic light settings, and with uncertainty over how long the country will remain at red, the decision has been made to call off the event.
An online programme to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Tiger will go ahead.
"The Auckland Lantern Festival is New Zealand's largest cultural celebration, and a key component of the Auckland event calendar, especially for the Auckland-Chinese community," Auckland mayor Phil Goff said.
"After the cancellation due to Covid of the 2020 and 2021 festivals and other major Chinese New Year events scheduled for early next month, this year's event was highly anticipated, and we are disappointed to have to cancel it again.
"However, the safety of our communities has to come first".
South Island events cancelled
The South Island Wine and Food Festival in Christchurch has been cancelled. It had already been postponed from December until 5 February.
Dunedin City Council has scrapped several public events because of the Covid-19 risk.
Waitangi Day commemorations, Chinese New Year celebrations and concerts in parks and the Botanic Gardens have been called off.
The council said it was impossible to safely hold big events under the red traffic light setting, which limits gatherings to 100 people. Public facilities like Moana Pool, libraries, the museum and art gallery will stay open.
The Challenge Wanaka triathlon festival has been cancelled, organisers announced this morning. Competitors will receive a 75 percent refund or a transfer to next year.
The red light settings had already stymied other large events including Warbirds over Wanaka and Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival.
The Waitangi Treaty Grounds will be closed to the public on Waitangi Day, with organisers saying even if they had the capacity to check vaccination passes, opening the grounds was untenable because only 100 people would be allowed there under the red setting.