In under 24 hours it reached more than $5000, a figure which continues to grow.
Festival director Gareth McMillan said support from the Dunedin community had been ‘‘amazing’’ following the decision to cancel the festival, because of growing concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said messages flooded in from people who wanted to know how they could help the artists affected, resulting in the Booster campaign being set up on Wednesday evening.
One person had also come into the festival office to offer a donation.
‘‘We wanted to get something up as soon as possible and run it for the duration of what would have been a beautiful and amazing fringe festival,’’ McMillan said.
The money raised would go towards helping about 750 artists, who were now facing financial uncertainty, he said.
The Dunedin Fringe Festival would also refund artists their festival registration fees. Many who had bought event tickets had been deciding whether to give their ticket refund to the artist, he said.
Show must stop ... Dunedin Fringe Festival director Gareth McMillan rolls up a poster for the cancelled festival. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
