Barry Lynch and Denise Gore at Decorum, ready for the Art Deco Festival with ever-loyal "Daphne" in Herschell St, and the rack of the raiment of the era 80-90 years ago. Photo / Doug Laing
Barry Lynch and Denise Gore at Decorum, ready for the Art Deco Festival with ever-loyal "Daphne" in Herschell St, and the rack of the raiment of the era 80-90 years ago. Photo / Doug Laing
The Art Deco Trust has launched into the event management nightmare of cancellations of opening-day festival features, hoping it will still have a festival for the rest of this week.
All Wednesday events, including the midday Whakatuwheratanga festival opening in the Soundshell on Marine Parade, were cancelled because of the new Covid-19 alert levels announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at 7pm on Sunday, and implemented just five hours later.
The Art Deco cancellations were announced mid-morning on Monday in accordance with the alerts in place until at least Wednesday night - level 2 in Hawke's Bay and the rest of the country, with social-distancing and limiting of public gatherings to no more than 100 people, and level 3 in Auckland, with restrictions also on non-essential travel in and out of the supercity region.
In an update at 4pm, the Prime Minister said the "settings" put in place on Sunday night remained the same - Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield likened the situation to "a rollercoaster you haven't bought a ticket for".
It was "hour to hour" waiting for such people as Napier Art Deco Festival communications and sponsorship manager Maria Gourlie, who hoped alert levels could be eased, enabling the rest of the programme to go ahead as planned on Thursday to Sunday.
Art Deco Festival events due to be held on Wednesday have been cancelled following the move to alert level 2. Photo / Paul Taylor
More than 300 events and attractions had been listed, some run by the trust, many run by businesses and other organisations.
Early on Monday afternoon, Gourlie dispelled rumours the whole festival was off, saying nothing had changed since the mid-morning announcement and much would hang on the announcement later in the afternoon.
The Art Deco Trust said it would make decisions about remaining events once further information is available from Government.
"We will provide information about ticket refunds as soon as we are able to make decisions about whether or not events can go ahead," the trust says, adding it expects people travelling from such areas as Auckland and Taranaki will make their decisions based on the Government's advice.
"If the Covid restrictions are extended beyond Wednesday midnight, or you choose not to come to the Festival, we will make arrangements for ticket refunds," it told festivalgoers.
"We will advise further information and/or contact you directly over the next 72 hours."
Napier City Council events manager and Events New Zealand board member Kevin Murphy highlighted the nightmare of the moment and more anxious times for event organisers as Hawke's Bay heads into a big few weeks.
Garden-variety hei matau, the fish hook, red salvia in the background green of pyrethrum, grown in the Sunken Garden to symbolise the prosperity and goodwill of the festival. Photo / Doug Laing
The national track and field championships are in Hastings on March 5-7, two Crowded House concerts are booked for 9000-fan capacity Church Road Winery in Taradale on the Saturday and Sunday of the same weekend, the Horse of the Year Show is in Hastings on March 9-14, international men's Twenty20 cricket is scheduled for McLean Park, Napier on March 23, and the Big (and little) Easy trail rides are scheduled for April 2-3.
Murphy said plans for all event managers should include everything from staging the event without restrictions or amid the lower-level alerts and crowd-size limitations, to managing cancellation with minimal loss.
He said failure to plan for all scenarios puts organisations in "precarious" positions, and among the fears is that some annual events might not be able to get going again.
"Some events will find it too hard to get back," he said.
For the last year event managers have had to work on the basis of being not sure what they are planning for, and whether their support will still exist when it comes time for the event and to pay the bills.
"There are very few events that stand up on ticket-sales alone," Murphy said.
He said the core of the Art Deco Festival is its free events, which have in the past attracted tens-of-thousands into the heart of Napier, and without the ability to have those "big crowds" the festival "loses its core".
Without international visitors, and the tourist cruises that have become more than a daily event around the time of Art Deco Festival each year, the streets of Napier CBD were on Monday devoid of the throngs, prompting some to ask whether the festival is still on.
Art Deco clothing specialist Decorum, next-door to the Art Deco shop and across the road from the temporarily-closed MTG's pop-up shop at the Herschell St entrance to the Century Theatre, was fully prepared with its range of purchase and hire wear, including specially made masks and cravats.
One assistant said that in normal circumstances the shop would still have items available "on the Saturday", with late requests for needs for suitable raiment for the Art Deco festivities, albeit usually with the best picked-up by those who'd "got in early".
There are still plans to set-up new festival feature Toi Deco Maori Village in the Marine Parade Sunken Garden, scheduled to be in place by Friday to play its "cultural kaleidoscope" role in the weekend.
Events cancelled on the opening day of Art Deco Festival on Wednesday: Par 2 Mini Golf, Art Deco Vintage Car Tours, Walking Tours of the Art Deco Quarter, 1930s Escape Room and Self-Guided Walk, Napier Cultural Hīkoi (Walking) Tour, Deco Bus Tours, Port o Call Deco High Tea, Fashion Retailers Art Deco Walking Tour, Whakatuwheretanga Opening Ceremony, 1930s Waiata and Poi Dance Competition, Napier City Centre Earthquake, High Tea and History at the Art Deco Masonic, 1931 Hawke's Bay Earthquake Commemorative Lecture, A Salute to the Services – HB Jazz Club Big Band Concert.
