The Black Caps' last fixture at McLean Park in December drew plenty of fans. Photo / File
The Black Caps' last fixture at McLean Park in December drew plenty of fans. Photo / File
Organisers and accommodation providers are hopeful Hawke's Bay's massive weekend of events comes through unscathed by Covid.
Various postponements mean the EIT graduation ceremonies and parades, New Zealand Track & Field Championships, a Pink Floyd tribute concert, two Crowded House shows and a Black Caps/White Ferns international cricket double-header allcome within a five-day span.
HB_events
Napier City Council event manager Kevin Murphy said it should be a pretty big weekend.
Murphy said the Covid-enforced cancellations of the Art Deco Festival and Horse of the Year events in February and March were huge blows for the region economically, so hopefully everyone gets through this event-laden spell.
"If something comes up we'll deal with it at the time, and the event organisers and promoters are well aware of that in all their planning," Murphy said.
"Everyone just needs to put the Covid plan and lens over everything that they do, that's the frustration of it."
He said feedback from the events industry is telling him people are buying tickets much later than they did before Covid.
"If there isn't an urgency to buy your ticket, a lot of people are waiting until that week just to make sure the event is going to go ahead."
That was echoed by Tony Hirst, promoter of the Eclipse – The Music of Pink Floyd show at Pettigrew Green Arena in Napier this Saturday night.
"People are very aware of the situation and can be hesitant about jumping in," Hirst said, adding they had plenty of tickets to the show still available and there would be door sales.
Pink Floyd tribute band Eclipse will rock the Pettigrew Green Arena on Saturday night. Photo / File
He said a last-minute shift in the Covid alert level would result in either postponement or cancellation, and ticketholders would have the opportunity to be fully refunded or hold on to their ticket for a new date.
"Until we're told we can't have it, we have to plan as if it's all going ahead," Hirst said.
He said they run such a big event that it is hard to find a date that works for everyone.
"We only do it once every couple of years because everyone in the band are working musicians."
Tom Walsh is back in the Bay to defend his national shot put crown. Photo / File
Taradale-based Asure Colonial Lodge Motel owner Mark Johnson said that apart from Easter, this weekend will be the last busy one of the summer season for his business.
He said it was great to be busy, but it was unfortunate so many events had to be crammed into one weekend rather than spread out.
Johnson said he could already feel the typical seasonal drop-off coming, with midweek bookings now on the decline.
The motel lost an entire weekend's worth of bookings in one swoop when February 's Art Deco Festival was cancelled.
To make it up, he decided to offer a coin toss to each new customer – those who won got to stay for free.
Johnson said the stunt helped give his motel some publicity and traction, and one guest won the toss but turned him down:
"He said 'look I can't do this to you, I'll pay half, you've had a tough year'."
Crowded House will play shows at Church Road Winery in Napier on Saturday and Sunday. Photo / Supplied
Johnson said Covid and lockdowns are simply a fact of life at the moment, and will be for the foreseeable future.
"We all sort of hold our breath every time there's a breaking news story," he said.
Kevin Murphy said one positive of the cancellations is that the events sector has been recognised as a significant driver of domestic tourism, so in future they will look to bring more and better offerings to the region.
