"Festivals don't have 30 year histories, events like this don't usually last that long . . . the reason this one has is because it is supported so well locally and by our die-hard fans around New Zealand, and all around the world. We're expecting Hawke's Bay to be absolutely chocka."
The last line points to another reason to celebrate. Who knows how much of the folding stuff this event pulls. Tourism, hospitality, accommodation and a myriad other businesses must reap sizeable sums.
Not least of which is the timely reminder of how through disaster Art Deco came about; that its luxury, progressive theme and new-found optimism are all sentiments most of us take for granted any other time of the year.
That's why it's fitting it runs in the same month as the anniversary of the quake that gave rise to it all.
What's noteworthy too is that this isn't a Mission Concert big name luring punters to Napier. This is Napier luring people to Napier through a unique concentration of a visual language.
The bold town planners and architects of the post-1931 rebuild would surely be amazedat what now plays out each February.
One needn't dance the charleston to acknowledge the Deco dividend they left behind.
