New Zealand International Early Music Festival artistic director Christopher Clifford said the festival planned for Dunedin next year had been cancelled because funding could not be secured.
"We have not received sufficient financial and physical support from New Zealand that the festival requires to do it justice ... We have to make people open their coffers in the city."
The annual festival has been held three times since starting in 2014.
The Early Music Festival was the only event of its kind in New Zealand that celebrated early music.
A festival budget of $10,000 was enough to hold the event but ideally $90,000 would be available.
Mr Clifford hoped greater financial support would allow him to revive the festival in 2018.
Dunedin businesses needed to provide greater financial support to the arts, he said.
"What we need is a huge benefactor, someone who is into early music," Mr Clifford said.
