Ranfurly's Rural Art Deco festival can only keep getting better so ‘‘look out New Zealand'' was the message from its founder Edna McAtamney.
Ranfurly's queen of Art Deco, and Rural Art Deco Maniototo Inc chairwoman, had the foresight to adopt the image for the town and has played a leading role at the festival since its inception eight years ago.
‘‘This year was probably one of the best,'' Mrs McAtamney said.
‘‘It was a great, great weekend. Everyone enjoyed it.''
She took a step back from the organisation this year and was a volunteer co-ordinator assisting the new event managers Bill and Tracy Acklin, of Dunedin.
‘‘We were a great team.
‘‘Tracy Acklin is a great organiser and he's [Bill] got access to the music, they were great event managers.
‘‘My job as I saw it was as a co-ordinator, a volunteer, to teach the organisers how to run an event of that kind.''
With plenty of directions to give, and ongoing problems with her leg, to make the job easier a Dunedin business provided her with a mobility scooter for the three days of the festival.
‘‘It was fantastic, [but] I was a bit proud to get on it, I didn't want to go there.
‘‘Just turned 60, I don't need one of these.''
In art deco attire, holding a parasol in one hand above the mobility scooter, she had no trouble making her way from one end of Ran-furly's's main street to the other.
‘‘That's the first time I've seen what I set out, for the last two years, and I thought it was unbelievable.''
Both Friday night's cabaret and the food were
‘‘beautiful''.
Throughout the festival there was ‘‘fantastic music'' from all the entertainers including Calder Prescott Dixie Jazz, X-Factor, Marian Burns, Steve Larkins as Freddie Mercury, The Dunedin City Jazz Orchestra and the Silver Peaks Country Music Club.
For the first time there were two stages for entertainment on Saturday afternoon, encouraging people to walk around two different areas.
‘‘The procession was fantastic - the car rally was outstanding. This year I opened it up to all types of cars to get more cars, Well, we've doubled our cars, we had over 30 cars in the rally,'' Mrs McAtamney said
This year Max Birtles, of Cromwell, displayed model trains in the town hall, which was very successful with the children and would be expanded upon next year.
Saturday's starting time of noon needed to be clarified as people began arriving before nine o'clock, she said.
On Saturday evening the festival atmosphere wound up, and families went away having thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
‘‘We've nailed it as a family event and we finished at 9pm.''
Co-event manager Tracy Acklin said it was ‘‘just amazing the amount of effort people had gone to'' with costumes, and preparing cars for the rally and the procession.
People had come from Canterbury, Otago and Southland with car enthusiasts from as far as Nelson.
‘‘This event is very well supported by Central Otago and all those other areas,'' Mrs Acklin said.
‘‘There's been rave reviews about it very much setting the scene as a family event where people come along and they just want to have fun.''
Everything had come off including the church service on Sunday which people were coming in off the street to attend, she said.
‘‘It's becoming more and more the type of event that people put on their calender and they catch up again.''
