The application cap may have been nearly doubled - but the outcome is still the same.

Creative New Zealand's latest Arts Grant round has once again closed within a day of opening, with the process leaving those who missed out devastated.  

Even for those who successfully lodged an application, it's been labelled "ultra-stressful" and "kinda traumatic" after a raft of technical issues.

Creative New Zealand (CNZ) lifted the widely criticised cut-off mark of 250 applications to 450 for the funding round that started on Thursday - an interim step before the application cap is scrapped altogether.

As The Big Idea covered here yesterday, hopeful creatives had spent months preparing for this round and were crowding around their computers, ready to go at 9am for 'the race to 450'.

The reason the cap was extended was largely due to February's round lasting barely 24 hours - a record for all the wrong reasons and  an unacceptable timeframe to allow an equitable opportunity for applicants.

But the extra 200 applications spaces have filled up just as quickly - the rush to get in quick putting extraordinary pressure on the CNZ funding portal.

The Big Idea has been told by multiple frustrated applicants that the CNZ website was repeatedly "freezing", "glitching" and "crashing", forcing creatives to start from scratch for fear of missing out. 

CNZ were across this early - posting this response:

"We're sorry that the application site is not working smoothly for some – there are a lot of people creating their applications at once and while the portal is very busy this may happen occasionally. It will settle, so please wait a few minutes before refreshing, and if you have an error message, close, then reopen your application form before trying to continue. 

We know this is stressful for applicants and we’re trying to keep things running smoothly – our systems team is available for support if you’re having problems."

Rehearsals and creative spaces around the country crawled to a standstill as desperate applicants grabbed their laptops to keep trying to get the approval their application had been officially submitted. 

Given many other potential applicants would also have been juggling other jobs (including many outside of the creative sector and therefore less tolerant of the process) and family situations, it made for an anxious 24 hours.

Alleged confusion on how many spots were still open and how many drafts were in play (the usual measuring stick for applicants in their race against the clock) was also cited as adding additional stress.

At 11am Creative New Zealand (CNZ) posted confirmation on their social media accounts, stating;

"We understand this will be disappointing for those who missed out on submitting.

This round, we almost doubled the number of applications we could accept, with the ‘cap’ being raised significantly from 250 to 450. This extremely high demand demonstrates the level of need in the arts sector, and we want to further emphasise that we’ve heard this process isn’t working.

We are working on changing our processes to better serve creative communities in Aotearoa with our limited resources.

We’re committed to significant change – the next Arts Grants Round will have no ‘cap’ on applications."

That last line refers to the fact the from August, the Arts Grant funding rounds will instead being open for a month - which will remove the need for creatives to bombard the CNZ funding portal at the same time.

With the cap reached, those who managed to get their applications in will now need to wait to 5 July to find out if they've been given a slice of the predicted $6 million funding pie for this round.

What was your experience with yesterday's CNZ Arts Grant round? Let us know by contacting editor@thebigidea.co.nz