Volunteer fatigue, dwindling funds and poor weather have seen organisers of a popular Canterbury outdoor concert series decide to call it off this summer.

The free-entry annual Live at the Point concerts had been running since 2013. It is held at the Godley House gardens in Diamond Harbour, typically over eight consecutive Sundays in January and February.

Event organiser Al Park said the concerts usually attract about 400 people and up to 800 when featuring big acts like The Eastern and Marlon Williams.

The concert is put on by about 6 to 10 volunteers, who spend the whole day setting everything up, doing soundchecks with the musicians, working the drinks bar before packing it down.

Park said everyone was burnt out by the end of the last series and decided to take a break for 2027. The concerts’ hiatus was announced on social media on Tuesday.

He expects the event to return in 2028 after a reassessment. 

The poor weather over last summer also played a factor in the decision. Two concerts were cancelled completely and four of the five events put on were in less than ideal conditions, said Park.

"The people weren’t turning up and cancelling maybe had an effect on people's perception of whether it was going to happen or not,” he said.

"We certainly didn’t get the numbers we had in previous years.”

He said putting time and effort into something they had to cancel multiple times took a toll on the volunteers and the musicians. 

The musicians scheduled still got paid half their original fee when the event was cancelled.

The concert series almost did not go ahead this summer either with funding, particularly from the city council, reducing substantially over the past three years.

Diamond Harbour Events applied to the city council’s Strengthening Communities Fund for $18,000 to cover musician fees. A grant of $5000 was approved.

The event also received $2900 from the Creative Communities Fund, also administered by the city council.

Park said they were bailed out by an increase in funding from the Maritime Union NZ. Typically receiving about $2000, the event was given $5000 last year.

He and fellow event organiser Tim Pattinson did not bother trying to fundraise this year as they had already decided to a take a break.

Pattinson said last year the concert series costs about $40,000 to run annually.

Park said the struggle for funding is indicative of underinvestment in the arts across New Zealand.

He has revelled in putting together the musical line-ups for the concert over the past 13 years and will particularly miss giving young, budding artists an opportunity to perform.