Since the Public Health Order closed entertainment venues on March 18, Merrigong has been forced to cancel 487 performances of 149 different events, resulting in an economic downturn of more than $3 million.

Read more: Woonona's miracle boy: how Vincent survived falling down a cliff

The company's CEO Simon Hinton was thankful to have "survived the year" but said it was a group effort of collecting $1.48 million from various avenues - one of which was through Stage 1 and Stage 2 of Create NSW's Rescue and Restart package.

The Mercury understands the 24 recipients of Stage 1 funding needed to be in critical need, and meet three criteria to be eligible: they had to be a NSW arts and cultural organisation, not-for-profit, and in financial distress as a result of the impact of COVID-19.

Stage 2 of the Create NSW funding was handed out as a stimulus to the not-for-profit arts and cultural sector, with funding amounts based on average turnover from 2018 and 2019 and capped to a maximum of $750,000 per company.

Read more: Fears for Christmas as COVID restrictions tighten in the Illawarra

Stage 2 has been distributed to 160 organisations with money needing to be used to encourage employment of artists, arts workers and creatives, develop new work, and support regional areas through touring and other initiatives.

"This has given us the confidence to move forward with future programming, and we will launch our 2021 Season (later than usual) on Feb 9 next year, with some incredible, exciting events planned," Mr Hinton said.

Read more: Keep small business alive: choose food that's Illawarra grown and sourced

Other help credited to saving Merrigong includes more than $50,000 in community donations, he said, along with staff taking a reduced wage, Wollongong City Council continuing to pay their operating costs despite an empty stage and other government help.

"We hope audiences will return as strong as ever, but we are certainly aware that conditions may not be easy economically," Mr Hinton said.

"The industry will continue to be adversely affected by the impacts of COVID for at least the next couple of years."

We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.