"I have had several festivals that pay significant amounts of money be cancelled or postponed. The Groove Festival is one of only very few NZ music festivals during April and to have it be postponed til further notice is a great blow."
The Trust had spent the past year planning the event.
"We planned to have two stages accommodating 9.5 hours of top quality performances throughout the day."
Out The Gate member Caleb Haapu says the safety of the country and children is the number one priority.
"It sucks things were cancelled but there's always going to be other events but our family and friends can never be replaced."
Joss says the Trust is a group of passionate musicians dedicated to supporting local non-profit organizations, local businesses and musicians across the country.
"The purpose of the Trust is to use the skills of the entertainment community to support local non-profit community groups, causes and aspiring musicians with funding and promoting community engagement Taranaki wide."
Each year the Trust chooses a non-profit organisation to support with a portion of the profits. This year the trust is supporting Taranaki Green Ribbon and Riders Against Teen Suicide (RATS).
Joss says although the artists don't currently have merchandise, people can purchase their digital items off iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Youtube.
"It's more important than ever for all fans to support musicians by purchasing from them.The music industry is a tough business and supporting your favourite New Zealand musicians is paramount."
Ryan Monga, member of Ardijah says the band is devastated about the cancellation Taranaki Groove festival and other events they had lined up.
"It's like life as we know it and sharing the love through music is on hold till further notice. I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry.
"Once this episode in life is done we will be champing at the bit to reignite these gigs and share some love".
The festival has been rescheduled to run in 2021.
"We hope that in our music community during this time of despair will inspire everyone to make a commitment to support all the professional artists not just for 2020 but forever." Joss says.
She says the Trust has received an enormous amount of support.
"We would like to thank you for the role you have played bringing this all together. We appreciate the musicians, from behind the scenes volunteers, sponsors, to festival goers from across the country.
"We look forward to our 2021 Taranaki Groove Festival."
■ Issued tickets are valid for the rescheduled date in 2021. Refunds are available.
