The Vogel St Party Charitable Trust announced on Monday it would not go ahead with what has been a very popular Dunedin event.
First held in 2014, and designed to celebrate the efforts of business owners and others involved in renovation and reuse projects in heritage buildings in the warehouse precinct, it drew 5000 people in its first year and peaked at 20,000 in 2016.
Last year's event, which took place in heavy rain, still drew about 10,000 people.
Trust chairman Brendan Christie said yesterday the trust had been considering whether it could go ahead with the party this year.
``It kind of dawned on us over time our trust had slowly been getting smaller.''
People had left for ``life reasons'', and while the trust had enough energy to keep putting on the party, there was time for nothing else.
It wanted fresh ideas and new people on board to make it better.
``Everyone who works on the Vogel St party does it for free, so it really just came down to time.
``We were just very conscious we did not want to commit to something and not deliver.
``We wanted to keep the quality high.''
Fresh ideas would mean it could put on ``a real cracker'' next year, and make sure the event was sustainable.
But he said the decision not to have the party this year was ``really difficult.''
The trust was worried enthusiasm for the event might wane, but funders had assured the trust they would continue with their support.
``That made us quite comfortable making the decision.''
The Dunedin City Council provided $10,000 for last year's event.
Mr Christie said there was not a problem finding people to volunteer for the positions required.
``In the short time since we've made the announcement, we're already having people step over each other to volunteer.''
The trust needed the right people with the right expertise, and to develop job descriptions so people knew what was required of them.
The trust had five people and needed two more.
It had yet to consider what skills were required for the new trustees.
