The Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture has failed to source federal and donor funds to send a delegation from the Northern Marianas to this year's Festival of Pacific Arts.
Solomon Islands is hosting the next festival in July.
The council's executive director, Angel Hocog, said it needs $150,000 US dollars to pay airfares for 50 artists to go.
He says it is unfortunate, as the Northern Marianas had no delegation at the last festival, held in American Samoa four years ago .
"Funding is a big issue out here, because everything is in crisis. Businesses are hurting, there's a lot of businesses closing, and normally we depend on assistance from the private sectors as well as our local government."
Angel Hocog says they also couldn't afford to pay for artists to attend last year's Micronesia Island Fair on Guam.
