FibreOctave moves to Transport World
Massive growth in the FibreOctave wearable arts and music show has prompted the event to move to a new venue.
Next year, the show will take place at Bill Richardson Transport World, because of the increasing number of entries and demand for tickets.
Event manager Gaye McElroy said that at the first event, when it started as an Inner Wheel fundraiser in 2012, there were 15 entries. This year, the show’s entries stood at 44 and attracted designers from as far as Naseby.
‘‘We’ve coped with the numbers so far but we anticipate the numbers to grow again,’’ she said.
The event was previously held at the Ascot Park Hotel and will now take place in ‘‘Bill’s Shed’’.
This year, the 500-ticket event sold out six weeks ahead of the opening and there was a waiting line for people who had just missed out.
‘‘I think it’s the mystery of it, it’s the intrigue,’’ McElroy said.
‘‘It’s a little bit of the unknown.’’
The new venue will hold about 600 people, with room to expand if the demand continues, however McElroy didn’t want the event to become too large.
‘‘We don’t want it to get too big where people are too far away from the runway,’’ she said. ‘‘It spoils the whole idea.’’ As the event has grown over the years, the people it was bringing in to Southland provided a tourism opportunity and allowed Invercargill to show off its potential.
McElroy said she had spoken with people who had come to FibreOctave, and since returned for other events, such as the Bluff Oyster and Food Festival.
‘‘It’s Southland grown and produced ... people will travel down and stay the night,’’ she said.
McElroy hoped that FibreOctave would catch on further up the country, eventually, and people would travel down for the event.
Bill Richardson Transport World event operations manager Sally McDonald welcomed the event. ‘‘It’s quite exciting for us,’’ she said.
The event’s new venue had lots of colour and vibrancy and suited the idea of wearable arts, with vintage and classic cars placed around the area, she said.
‘‘You don’t have to dress the venue, it’s already dressed,’’ she said.
There were already some previous FibreOctave exhibits on display in the museum, something which McElroy considered an extra treat for the people who had made them.
‘‘It’s a wonderful afterlife for the exhibits really ... It makes it so much more meaningful making things.