Auckland Heritage Festival 2025

Auckland Heritage Festival 2025 Grant

We are excited to be able to reintroduce the Auckland Heritage Festival Grant, which is open to all community organisers of the Auckland Heritage Festival.

This fund aims to enhance events and enable new events to participate in the festival.

The festival is proudly brought to you by Auckland Council, who co-ordinate the programming and provide community event organisers with the tools and resources to promote and manage their events.

Festival Vision:

The festival aims to reinforce heritage's role in our sense of history, belonging, identity and place in Tāmaki Makaurau. It celebrates and highlights Auckland’s diverse natural, cultural, and built heritage. Auckland Heritage Festival creates a series of events that celebrate Auckland’s historic heritage.

Festival Aim:

The festival aims to reinforce the contribution of heritage to the character and quality of Auckland’s places and landscapes. The festival celebrates and highlights Auckland’s diverse natural, social, and built heritage.

Festival Objectives:

• Attract families with children.
• Provide accurate historically correct information in our events.
• Expand Heritage Festival events out of central Auckland.
• Build Community Capacity.
• Strengthen relationships with contributors and internal partners in libraries & and connected communities.

Auckland Heritage Festival 2025 Theme:

“Auckland at Play”

Picture Auckland, 1950: A City Electrified.

In 2025, we mark the 75th anniversary of the Empire Games, a moment when nearly 250,000 hearts beat in unison. Join us as we celebrate the enduring spirit of sport and recreation that defines our city.

We're seeking events that evoke the emotion of those Games – the excitement, the pride, the shared experience. Tell the stories of our sporting heroes, explore the history of our beloved venues, and showcase the evolution of local teams.

From the power of children's play to the traditions of ngā tākaro and our maritime legacy, let's rediscover the heart of Auckland's sporting soul. And beyond the sporting arena, let's celebrate the rich and varied histories of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

This is a call to celebrate play in every way, ensuring 2025 resonates with the spirit of unity and joy

• Learning and encouragement: Events designed to up-skill and inform the local community and to encourage greater understanding of our heritage through workshops and lectures.

• Celebrating our heritage: Events that celebrate Auckland’s distinct built, cultural and natural heritage.

• Children and young people: Events suitable for families or aimed at young people.

Please keep in mind when planning your event that both weeks of the festival are during the school holidays so we're keen to include events suitable for families with young children. Please consider this when you are organising your events.

Auckland Heritage Festival Grant

• There is a total of 10 grants of up to $800 to be distributed to events.
• Applications will be open from Tuesday 17 June 2025 to Tuesday 1 July 2025
• Grant assessment will take place from 2 July 2025 – 9 July 2025
• Successful applicants will be notified by 11 July 2025

Fund Outcomes

• Enhance & enrich events in the Auckland Heritage Festival
• Build community capacity to deliver events.
• Make hosting an event accessible and remove financial barriers for contributors.

Eligibility Criteria

• The grant is open to applicants delivering Auckland-based events as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival.
• Funding must be used in events accepted in the 2025 Auckland Heritage Festival.
• Priority will be given to individuals, not-for-profit, incorporated societies, charitable and voluntary organisations.
• Funding is available for community-focused events that align with the fund outcomes above.
• Evidence of funding spent may be requested.
• Funding must be spent on resources or services that support the event.

For example, a walking tour that wishes to offer a minibus to transport attendees. Or for a talk that wishes to hand out resources and needs funds to source the materials.

Can an organisation apply?

The priority is that the fund first goes to support individuals, not-for-profit, incorporated societies, and charitable/ voluntary organisations who have projects that need to be supported.

We will assess each application and prioritise those groups first. In the hope that larger organisations would be able to allocate their own budgets.

If there is money left in that budget unallocated then I would offer it to internal teams.

Can I apply as an Auckland Council department?

The priority is it first goes to support individuals, not-for-profit, incorporated societies, and charitable/ voluntary organisations who have projects that need to be supported.

We will assess each application and prioritise those groups first. In the hope that Auckland Council teams would be able to allocate their own budgets.

If there is money left in that budget unallocated then I would offer it to internal teams.

As an Auckland Council Employee, you would need to complete a Conflict-of-Interest Declaration Council.

What can the fund be spent on?

Funding can be spent on resources or services that support the event on offer.

Some examples include a walking tour that wishes to offer a minibus to transport attendees back to the start, a talk that wishes to hand out resources and needs funds to source the materials or use the funds for marketing or social media.

Assessment Criteria

1. How the Event will add value to the Auckland Heritage Festival theme.
2. How strong the heritage connection is.
3. How the grant will help enhance the participants’ experience.
4. How well does the Event align with the Auckland Heritage Festival principles and objectives?
5. The amount of funding received from other sources, including additional grants received from the Council and other agencies or funding bodies.

Assessment process

Each application will be assessed by the Auckland Heritage Festival Project Team. The assessment will be conducted by at least one member of the Heritage Team and one from the Event Production team from the Council.

Branding

We would appreciate the recognition of Auckland Council's support by using the council's logo in appropriate mediums. See the Brand Identity Guidelines around logo use (a copy of these guidelines and the logo will be emailed to you with your funding agreement).

Contact us at aucklandheritagefestival@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz or phone 09 301 0101 if you need assistance with completing this form.