New Year gig for festival
A New Year’s Eve party featuring live music will help New Plymouth’s Festival of Lights usher in 2019, organisers have revealed.
Entertainment at Pukekura Park will run until midnight on December 31, with bands on the Hatchery Lawn and activities for children, families and adults.
The New Year’s Eve event, featuring bands Dtomp, Ed Pool and The Slacks, is one of a series of fresh features for this year’s festival, which will run for 50 nights from this Sunday to February 3.
This year the New Plymouth District Council event, which brought 8000 visitors to the city in 2017, will showcase 17 light features, including 10 new installations and have 25 per cent more artists than previously, with a mix of international, national and local acts.
It is New Zealand’s leading light festival and pumps almost $5 million into Taranaki’s economy.
NPDC events lead Hayley Olliver said the council had listened to the public and responded to the demand.
The New Year event will also feature a 9pm countdown for children, glow lawn bowls and a silent disco and food trucks.
Other additions for the event include a festival hub at the Bellringer Pavilion car park to offer punters a space where they can find information and a range of local food trucks on selected nights.
Stakeholders, including lighting designers, installers, artists and invited guests got a taste of what the public could expect to be dazzled by during a launch event held at the Bowl of Brooklands on Tuesday evening.
Andre Manella, of Ed Pool, who performed for the more than 100-strong crowd that gathered at the Bowl for the launch, said the New Year’s Eve gig was going to be awesome. ‘‘It’s amazing. I’m very much looking forward to it. I think it’s what this town needs, a big celebration for the whole community.’’
NPDC chief executive Craig Stevenson said events like the festival were all part of the council’s goal of making New Plymouth the lifestyle capital of New Zealand.
‘‘No other event connects the community like the TSB Festival of Light,’’ Stevenson said.
Feedback from the community showed the festival was much loved and put lots of smiles on people’s faces, he said.
Donna Cooper, TSB Bank chief executive, said TSB was proud to continue to sponsor the event in its 25th year. ‘‘The festival reminds us that Taranaki really does punch above its weight.’’