Walk of Wonders organiser and co-founder Anthony van Dorsten wants to provide access for more families to immerse themselves in the festival's magic in years to come. Photo / Paul Taylor
Walk of Wonders organiser and co-founder Anthony van Dorsten wants to provide access for more families to immerse themselves in the festival's magic in years to come. Photo / Paul Taylor
Walk of Wonders organisers says tickets to the show that lit up Havelock North doubled in its second year in Hawke's Bay.
With nearly 8000 visitors attending the multi-night light and fire festival, Walk of Wonders was able to double its ticket sales on last year and raised $6000 dollarsfor Hawke's Bay mental health charities.
The Hawke's Bay Foundation was one of the donation recipients and expressed its gratitude to the event for highlighting the critical importance of mental health in the community.
"The event's ticket proceeds earmarked for this cause will be invested, and the income gained will support local mental health charities annually, forever," said Hawke's Bay Foundation executive officer Amy Bowkett.
The event was also responsible for encouraging tourism in Hawke's Bay at what is usually a quieter time of the year, with 20 per cent of tickets being sold to people from outside of the region.
The greatest challenge for event organiser and co-founder Anthony van Dorsten was around ticket pricing, with public opinion being that tickets were too expensive to enable everyone access to the event.
On Eventfinda, main sale tickets for children were priced at $28.87, $49.37 for adults and $131.37 for a family pass (two adults and two children).
However, unlike other festivals of a similar nature, Walk of Wonders is privately funded and receives no external support from local councils or big sponsors.
"Being a privately funded event in the realm of immersive experience while working with world-class light and visual artists and breaking new ground in the industry, we've relied on the support of our creatives and business partners who dedicated a lot of their own time to this project, and deserve remuneration for all their hard work," van Dorsten said.
Walk of Wonders festival doubled its numbers with more than 8,000 festival-goers this year. Photo / Supplied
Recognising the financial hurdle that prevented some Hawke's Bay families from attending the festival, co-founders van Dorsten and Henry Gordon paired with several local schools to provide free tickets for families.
In years to come the festival founders, in collaboration with local councils, hope to expand on this initiative and increase the access that local whānau have to the event.
Co-founder Henry Gordon said he believes the future of Walk of Wonders will be a bright one.
"We will be back and are extremely driven to make Walk Of Wonders a success story for the region. Now, more than ever, Hawke's Bay needs a show like this to inspire awe and wonder in our community" he said.
