Government Boosts Funding for Smokefree Youth Music Programs to Promote Health

The Government is investing in extra support for Smokefreerockquest and Smokefree Tangata Beats, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today.

Any event that promotes a smokefree and vapefree lifestyle for our young people is worthy of government backing, and these events have become an iconic part of our Smokefree work, Ms Costello says.

The new contract with Health NZ ensures continuity for these nationwide youth music programmes, which have supported creativity, and, most importantly, wellbeing among our young people for 36 years, Ms Costello says.

The new 3-year contract is for $550,000 per year – an increase from the previous $355,000. This funding forms part of $5.3 million in investments in marketing and quit smoking campaigns.

Thankfully, young people have turned their back on smoking – the daily smoking rate for 14–15-year-olds is around 1 percent, and increasingly they are stopping vaping too, Ms Costello says.

But while we focus on getting older smokers to quit, it’s also important to keep reminding youth to stay smokefree and vapefree, and these events are a great way of reaching young people.

The 2025 editions set records with over 1,010 entries, over 14,000 live audience members, and hundreds of thousands engaging online.