Whangārei Night Lights Festival proves popular as tickets sell out

Leo Bell, age 9 from Whangārei, runs through an art installation, courtesy of Jock McVicar. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The Whangārei Night Lights Festival was so popular on its opening night that organisers may add more tickets to keep up with demand.

Wednesday evening saw hundreds of people arrive to view art from around 30 artists and witness the talent of local performers such as the Fire Frenzy crew and the Sistema Music Group, all in an approximately 230-square-metre area.

Featured art from Jock McVicar was a wow factor for tamariki (kids). He’s developing his artistic flair after also featuring in last year’s event.

McVicar said there was a “lot of joy” on the kids’ faces as they ran through the installation.

He said his work took a “couple of hundred hours” to create, so he will be making sure it’s running correctly over the final few nights.

This is the third year of the much-anticipated event, and co-organiser and performer Hannah Mitchell said the event is about community, and bringing creative arts technology forward.

Jock McVicar with his light creation. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Mitchell herself is part of the “welcoming committee” for the event, “giving people a smile” before they hand their tickets over, she said.

Tickets for the event have been limited, and Mitchell explained this is because the Quarry Arts Centre has a limited capacity of around 1,000 people.

She said having a free event where people could turn up would be a “health and safety nightmare”.

Hundreds of people didn’t turn up last year, so raising the price of tickets was to encourage people to turn up rather than cause other people to miss out.

The all-ages event is running until Saturday, July 8.