Real NZ festival funding announced

Pete Cole
Pete Cole
Dunedin has gained hundreds of thousands of dollars from Lottery Grants Board funding for a festival that will run in conjunction with Rugby World Cup next year.

The result is the confirmation of events including the Port Chalmers Seafood Festival, the International Science Festival's Taste of Dunedin, and a rugby sevens tournament and market day in Middlemarch.

Not all were so lucky though, with Dunedin Midwinter Celebrations Trust trustee Paul Smith yesterday confirming a spring event with a lantern parade had missed out on funding.

The full list of events that gained funding or missed out, and the total figure for Otago events, will not be released until January, when it becomes clearer whether those that received partial funding can still go ahead.

The funding is part of $9.48 million the board has granted throughout New Zealand for the Real New Zealand Festival, which will highlight the country's arts and culture, food and wine, heritage, entertainment, and lifestyle during the world cup.

Sir David Gascoigne, who chaired the specially-formed Festival Lottery Fund Committee tasked with allocating the funding, said the calibre of applications had been impressive, and with applications for 570 projects totalling more than $76 million, the committee's task had been extremely difficult.

Real New Zealand Festival director Briony Ellis said yesterday because some projects had been declined, and others received partial funding, organisers of those events would have to consider whether they would still go ahead.

The festival wanted to give them time to do that before the final details were released.

The Port Chalmers Seafood Festival will be held at Port Otago's Shed A and wharf area, usually used for cruise-ship passengers, on October 1 next year.

Organising committee chairman Pete Cole said the committee had received $50,000 from the grants board, meaning the event would go ahead.

While the committee had asked for $100,000, Mr Cole was overjoyed with the result, which he said would allow organisers to "hit the ground running".

The Strath Taieri Agricultural Rural Tourism Trust's Barry Williams said his organisation had received $9200, after asking for $10,000 for a rugby sevens tournament and market day in Middlemarch.

Mr Williams was also happy with the result.

"It's a complete goer," he said of the event that had been in the back of his mind for three or four years.

The September event would include travel on the Taieri Gorge Railway, and he hoped to "sell" carriages to clubs for the trip.

Another event in the area, the Otago Central Rail Trail Trust's summer festival, had been unsuccessful, Cr Kate Wilson said yesterday.

The New Zealand International Science Festival did receive "quite a large amount" of funding for its Taste of Dunedin event, but director Sue Clarke said it was not the full amount requested, and she wanted to wait until the final make-up of the event had been decided before saying more.

Mr Smith said he had spent a week putting together what he thought was strong application for $70,000, but had not been successful.

"It is a shame."

- david.loughrey@odt.co.nz

 

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