Editorial: Rotorua misses out once again

Here we go again - Rotorua misses out on an event because locals don't buy tickets far enough in advance to reassure organisers it will be a viable gig.

We've heard from organisers before that our city gives the impression of being a risky place to hold events because locals don't support them. And we keep telling event organisers we will support them but that we never make up our minds until the last minute and, if they come, we will go.

This time our last-minute habit means we miss out on hosting Australasian music festival Polyfest, which is also being held in several Australian centres. The Brisbane date has also been cancelled and organisers say the two centres are missing out "due to lack of prepaid ticket sales".

That's despite the Australian-based organiser last month telling this newspaper that "thousands" of tickets had already sold for the 12-hour Rotorua event. He urged others to buy their tickets soon so they didn't miss out.

A marketing ploy perhaps? One might think thousands of tickets would indicate it would be a viable event in Rotorua.

There was some Facebook reaction from people, presumably locals, pointing out that they had seen little promotion or advertising for the event, so that may also have played a part. The Polyfest was held in Rotorua last year and was to have been an annual event for the next five years, so its future here now seems very uncertain and that's a real shame. Events add colour and vibrancy to a town or city and the Polyfest would certainly have done that for Rotorua.

And of course, there is the financial boost events can bring which, in tough times, is very welcome.

Perhaps the lack of ticket sales is a reflection of those tough times, which many people are still experiencing. Or perhaps we just need to start getting better organised and committing to events that interest us by buying tickets sooner rather than later. We probably all know which category we fit into.