23 March – 4 May 2025
tuku 25 whakatū
Six weeks of events to share (tuku) Nelson’s unique stories of people and place.
Yes that’s right, we are all looking forward to next year's festival! It’s now time to register your event ideas with the festival team.
Fill in this online form to register your event and if required, submit a grant application.
The submission deadline is 5pm Wednesday 8th January 2025.
all Tuku festival events work on the same principle:
passionate “event hosts” create the events that deliver all those magic moments for the festival goers.
Nelson City Council is immensely proud that each year, over 80% of all the festival events are delivered not by its staff, but ‘by the community, for the community’.
How Tuku 25 Whakatū supports you
Tuku 25 is a well-resourced platform to launch your heritage themed event and benefit from our $25,000 marketing campaign, to share it with the community.
We also offer $25,000 of community grants to those that need a little extra support. Grants generally range from $500 to $2000. Grants aim to subsidise event costs to keep charges for attendance down (ideally free). In this way, you can help the whole community access your activity. See our advice and the criteria for receiving a grant in our information pack.
Tuku 24 Whakatū was a blast!
Tuku 24 Whakatū delivered 120 events that were enjoyed by an estimated 18,000 people.
The cultural diversity of events rose for the fifth year running, making Tuku the most culturally diverse council-led Heritage Festival in New Zealand.
Click here to see how the festival is tracking.
Programmes & reports
