Coronavirus in NZ: Auckland Arts Festival forced to cancel more shows

Limbo Unhinged is one of the latest Auckland Arts Festival shows to be cancelled. Photo / NZ Herald

Auckland Arts Festival has cancelled more shows today due to increasing border restrictions due to coronavirus.

Festival chief executive David Inns said the shows were cancelled as the virus situation continued to cause flight cancellations and restrictions affecting international artists.

The cast and crew of Mouthpiece needed to return to the UK before travel restrictions prevented them from getting home. As a result, tonight's and all future performances have been cancelled.

"We have a commitment to get them home to their families and loved ones," Inns said.

The other latest shows to be cancelled are Limbo Unhinged and @Peace and the Plutonian Noise Symphony. Black Grace Dance Company's regional tour of Verses has been postponed.

Inns said the festival shows were continually being re-assessed in line with Government announcements.

"We have a number of international artists who are impacted by flight cancellations and impending border closures in their home countries and we have a commitment to get them home to their families and loved ones."

Inns added that audience limits were set in place following the ban on public gatherings of over 500 people. Ticket purchases for the Spiegeltent were limited to 300, which has a capacity of 700.

A few shows are still going ahead as planned. The latest news follows the cancellation of Circolombia – Acéléré, Wolfgang's Magical Musical Circus, Watt by Samuel Beckett and Soweto Gospel Choir, earlier this week due to new border control measures.

Yesterday it was announced that the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Beethoven 250 series, part of the Auckland Arts Festival, would not go ahead. Instead, they'll be performing four concerts without a live audience, but livestreaming to Facebook pages and websites.

Cancelling the shows has been a major blow for the festival, with ticketholders being asked to consider donating part of the value of their ticket to support the event.