Uncertain times plague Taranaki’s bigger events
Organisers of Taranaki’s biggest festivals are having to make ‘‘heartbreaking’’ decisions around postponing or cancelling largescale events amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic.
Australasia’s largest tattoo festival has been pushed out by three months, the region’s biggest kapa haka event has been called off for a year, theatre shows have been cancelled and summer’s Bowl of Brooklands concerts hang in the balance.
And it is not yet known if the pandemic will affect the much-lauded music festival, Womad, which runs in mid-March each year.
Brent Taylor, who runs the annual New Zealand Tattoo and Arts Festival in New Plymouth, said he had little choice but to postpone the event until February given the uncertainty of when the restrictions on mass gatherings would lift.
‘‘You can’t do much about it, it is what it is,’’ he said.
Even with the postponement, Taylor said there may be slight changes to the festival, such as fewer artists than the usual 300, and limited overseas artists.
It was unlikely the country’s borders would be open at that point but a transTasman travel bubble could well be in place, he said.
‘‘There’s a lot of good Australian artists who I sometimes can’t fit in, so it might be an opportunity for some of them to come over and do it.’’
Organisers of Taranaki Puanga Festival have postponed this year’s event.
While originally set down for October, it would now be held in October 2021.
Postponing the festival was a difficult decision, organiser Clive Tongaaw’ikau said.
‘‘We’re heartbroken. Our committee is absolutely devastated,’’ he said.
Other major events cancelled in the region included the New Plymouth Operatic Society’s upcoming season of Wicked.
The Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (Taft) canned June’s Right Royal Cabaret Festival and have also cancelled Box of Tricks Fest, which was expected to kick off in September as part of the makeover of the former biennial Taranaki Arts Festival.
Taft declined to give an update on where planning was at for Womad New Zealand 2021.
However, Taft’s Suzanne Porter said the trust was in the planning phase of developing a new festival.
If restrictions around social distancing were relaxed it would be presented from November 5 to 15, overlapping the last weekend of Taranaki Garden Festival, Porter said.
Meanwhile, Jacqueline Baker, of New Plymouth District Council, said it was not yet known which acts, if any, would play the Bowl of Brooklands this summer.