We have now closed off our automated refund process for the 2021 World of WearableArt Awards Show. If you have not yet registered your preference to refund, transfer or gift and you still wish to do so please email our ticketing team tickets@worldofwearableart.com. Any remaining ticketholders will have their tickets automatically transferred to our 2022 season.
Please note due to the high volume of requests we are working through, refunds will take up to 6 weeks to process.
If you are a 2021 ticketholder, please visit our Ticket Purchasers FAQs for information about refunds, transfers, or gifting your tickets.
Kia ora koutou,
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. 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.
Since then WOW has been working closely with Wellington City Council and WellingtonNZ to try and find new dates. As we are sure you will appreciate, there are many, many 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 decision to cancel has been made in close consultation with our Strategic Partners, Wellington City Council and WellingtonNZ, and we thank them for their continued support through this incredibly challenging time. 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.
It has been inspiring to see the dedication of our Creative and Production teams who have worked determinedly to create, plan, and deliver the 2021 WOW Awards Show. The love and passion for WOW shown by this extraordinary group of people is humbling and we pay tribute to them all today.
For this year’s finalist designers, we are devastated that we are not going to be able to bring their exceptional works of wearable art to life on the WOW stage as we had planned. The creative vision, resilience and determination shown by all designers who entered this year has been nothing short of incredible. We are working now to explore ways that we can creatively respond and complete the 2021 WOW Awards Competition, albeit in a different form, and will announce that as soon as we are able to.
To our partners who have stood by us through a tough year, we are eternally grateful for your steadfast support.
And finally, we would like to thank you, our loyal audience. We couldn’t do it without you, your ongoing support and words of encouragement and enthusiasm. You’ve been with us every step of the way and we have felt that deeply.
If you are a 2021 ticketholder you will be contacted to confirm whether you prefer a refund, transfer to 2022 or to support WOW by gifting the full or partial value of your ticket. Please wait for us to contact you. As you can appreciate our ticketing team is fielding a large number of requests and will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible.
The ongoing disruption and uncertainty created by COVID is difficult for both artists and arts organisations. Life in the arts is not easy at the best of times and right now we are being tested more than ever. However, we remain committed to providing a unique creative platform for artists from all walks of life and backgrounds, and to sharing that creativity with our audience for a long time to come. To do this though, we need your help. If you have the means, please do consider supporting WOW by gifting some or all of your ticket value.
The story of WOW began more than thirty years ago and since then this much-loved homegrown arts company has become a global creative movement like no other. While this current chapter is incredibly challenging for us, it is by no means the end of the story. We will be back and look forward to once again bringing artists and audiences together to celebrate creativity, possibility, and perseverance.
Kia Kaha
Image credit: Lady Ethereal, Dawn Mostow and Snow Winters, United States