The annual World of Wearable Arts awards show has been cancelled for the second year in a row amid the uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2021 show was postponed on August 30 after the country plunged into Level 4 lockdown due to the current Delta outbreak.
The show was scheduled to take place in Wellington from September 30 to October 17.
The country, apart from Auckland, has since moved down to Alert Level 2 while the country’s biggest city remains at Level 4 for at least another week.
“The 2021 World of WearableArt Awards Show was set to be an exciting spectacle bursting with colour, creativity, surprise, and delight. It was designed to blow away all 2020 cobwebs and celebrate anew,” WOW said in a press release.
“We were so close. Sadly, the current Covid-19 outbreak in Aotearoa forced our hand and on 30 August we announced postponement of the 2021 Show season.”
WOW said organisers had worked closely with the Wellington City Council and WellingtonNZ to move the awards show to new dates in spite of the “layers of complexity involved in trying to reschedule an event of WOW’s scale”.
“In the end we came to the conclusion that we needed to face reality, the risks were just too high.
“So despite the tireless efforts of all involved, it is with heavy hearts that today we confirm that we have had to make the devastating decision to cancel the 2021 WOW Awards Show season,” the event said.
“Together we agreed that this decision to cancel would place WOW in the strongest position possible to ensure its success and sustainability for next year and into the future.”
Last year’s show was also cancelled due to the pandemic, with the show instead moving to a summer showcase at Te Papa museum.
