Art Deco Trust yet to decide whether Festival will go ahead after first two days cancelled
The Art Deco Trust has announced this morning that Art Deco Festival events scheduled for Thursday will not go ahead and a decision will be made later today about whether or not the remaining Festival events will be cancelled.
“Since Government announced three days of Covid Level 3 restrictions for Auckland and Level 2 restrictions for the rest of New Zealand, we have been assessing whether or not Festival events
scheduled from Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st February can and should go ahead, and when we must make that decision.” Trust Chair, Barbara Arnott said.
She said there are a number of practical issues the Trust needs to consider.
“First and foremost, we are absolutely committed to the health and safety of everyone involved in the Festival, from artists and performer to venue operators and, of course, Festival-goers and the
wider community.
“While the majority of people attending the Festival are Hawke’s Bay locals, many thousands of people make the journey from outside the region, some from afar. We are mindful it takes visitors
time and cost to get here,” she said.
“For people from Auckland and Taranaki, the decision whether or not to travel to the Festival is largely outside of their control. However, we appreciate that many want to know whether the
Festival will be going ahead in part or at all, once they know what Covid restrictions will be in place beyond midnight Wednesday.”
Arnott said that staging the programme of events, including the associated events that are managed by other organisers under the Festival banner, requires a huge amount of last-minute
logistics.
“We need to give event organisers, caterers, venues and suppliers the certainty to go ahead with all the logistics for nearly 300 individual events. This includes everything from catering, putting up
marquees, installing sound and lighting, and putting in place everything else required in each event location. Many of the talented people who perform at Festival events need to travel to get here
too.”
“With all of these considerations in mind, we have made the immediate decision to cancel the events scheduled for Thursday 18th February.”
