Whanganui to let its unique heritage take centre stage for packed Anniversary Weekend

Geoff Follet of Mainstreet Whanganui out making final preparations for Whanganui Vintage Weekend on Friday afternoon. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui mayor Andrew Tripe says Anniversary Weekend has played a big part in establishing a unique identity for the city.

Whanganui Vintage Weekend leads the action-packed break but there is plenty else going on around the city with visitors booking out accommodation, and the weather looking set to play its part.

“I think that heritage is part of our identity and vintage goes alongside that,” he said.

Because of this, he viewed the weekend as not only an important event for the city but a way for Whanganui people to demonstrate who they are.

He also said it was an important time as it brought tourists into the city for a unique experience.

“It helps visitors discover Whanganui, and in a different way as well.

“It’s another way to draw people here to discover who we are and what we’re about ... for other people to tell our story.”

Whanganui River Top 10 Holiday Park owner Ben Kay said the park was fully booked for the weekend, but people were still trying to stay there.

“We are turning people away now. That’s for everything - tent sites, the lot. We’re just full now,” he said.

There were people also trying to extend their stays at the park to cover the weekend.

He said the long weekend was always a busy time for them, but this was the first year in memory they’d had to turn people away.

In particular, he said, a lot of people from Wellington come up to the park to stay for the weekend.

“I think it gets more and more popular. Word gets around and I think more and more people come.”

Siena Motor Court proprietor Ronald Wheeler said in the build-up, and over the first two nights of the weekend, they were fully booked.

They had been hosting performers from the New Zealand Opera School for the Whanganui Opera Week, which finishes on Saturday night.

Because of this, the hotel is fully booked up until Sunday, with the last events of the Opera Week happening on Saturday night.

However, he said, for the rest of the weekend the hotel was around 40 to 50 per cent full, which is a low turnout for this time of year.

“I was expecting a lot more but I think people wanted to come Friday-Saturday and leave [on] Sunday, and we had Friday and Saturday booked out.”

He said the hotel lost about 70 per cent of its bookings in December due to Covid-19.

Because of this, he was grateful the Opera School had come to the hotel.

Wheeler said he knew accommodation providers were still getting inquiries for vacancies around the city.

“There [are] still inquiries and people asking about it, so it’s not like it’s an unknown thing or no one is coming,” he said.

‘Looking very fine’

As for the weekend’s weather, MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said the weekend was looking very fine.

Across the three days, he said, people could expect it to be cloudy early in the mornings, but the cloud was expected to clear pretty quickly.

He said there was a slight chance of showers on Saturday morning, but not for Sunday, and Monday was looking to be the best of the bunch.

“Generally it’s going to be a nice weekend, and Monday is going to be even better,” he said.

He said people can expect high temperatures between 24C and 25C across all three days, with overnight lows between 12C and 13C.