Spirit of Tremains Art Deco Festival not dampened by rain

FESTIVITIES: Rain or shine, thousands enjoyed the 2017 Tremains Art Deco Festival. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND.

Another year, another successful Tremains Art Deco Festival.

This is what organisers of the annual event are saying, with hordes of locals and visitors alike enjoying the events on offer across Hawke's Bay.

Even the 105.4ml of rain which fell on Napier over the weekend was not enough to dampen the spirit of the festival. Thousands of participants still turned out to enjoy the events on offer - from the Vintage Car Parade, Gatsby Picnic, to simply taking in the Art Deco architecture.

In their first year managing the event, Art Deco Festival director Glen Pickering and general manager Shane Gorst said despite the weather presenting some challenges, they were pleased with how the festival went.

"Its been really wonderful. People came out and were happy, and events ran smoothly, it all went well," Mr Pickering said.

"It's a huge tick for the people of Napier."

The festival had weather contingency plans, although Mr Gorst said "no-one expected to use them" as this was the first time heavy rain had fallen on the festival in 17 years.

These involved relocating some events, however this did not deter crowds gathering for the weekend's festivities.

There were even silver linings - organisers had received great feedback about the relocation of the Gatsby Picnic from the soggy lawns on Marine Parade to Emerson St for creating a "street party atmosphere", and benefiting retailers.

While rain may have compromised some events, yesterday the streets were packed, car roofs were down, and families picnicked outside when the sun finally emerged.

With almost 90 per cent of the ticketed events sold out, Mr Gorst said he thought the festival had been a success.

"What a spirit the local people have. I don't think you could have this event anywhere else in the world."

Hawke's Bay Tourism general manger Annie Dundas said she had heard "only good things" about the festival.

"It's been amazing despite the weather, people have got spirit and were determined to still have a good time," she said.

While the economic impact the event would have was not yet known, Ms Dundas said the festival was always a huge generator for the region due to the number of people who visited, and the length of time they stayed.

In previous years, the festival had provided a $12 million investment into the region's economy.

Napier mayor Bill Dalton said it had been a "fantastic weekend".

He took his hat off to those who had worked to relocate events, and make sure everything ran smoothly.

"The work done behind the scenes to get the thing through was absolutely brilliant," he said.

Although he would always "enjoy anything to do with cars", his favourite event this year was his first time at the Beachcomber Ukulele.

"It was absolutely fabulous, it suited me right to the ground," he said.

Ms Dundas applauded Mr Pickering and Mr Gorst management of the festival: "for their first time, and in pretty awful conditions at times, they've done an amazing job."

"Bring on the sunshine next year."