Family Fest organiser will be back
Timaru’s inaugural Family Fest has been hailed a success and will return despite Covid-19 challenges.
The two-day event was originally scheduled for August but was postponed when the South Island went into alert level 2 with the re-emergence of Covid-19 last month.
Entrepreneur Phil Anderson, who was behind the event at the Southern Trust Events Centre on Saturday and Sunday, said it attracted about 300 families who took part in a range of activities, including bouncy castles, inflatable obstacle courses, a disco tent, soft archery, an under 5s area, parent zone with coffee cart and a wipeout mechanical amusement ride.
While it was slow to start with about 60 children attending two Saturday sessions, 250 children attended two Sunday sessions, which pleased Anderson.
‘‘We broke even, and we will be back again this time next year,’’ he said.
Anderson, 25, along with four others, runs Christchurch Event Hire and trialled Family Fest in the Garden City earlier this year as the company ramps up operations following lockdown.
The former Timaru man had his sights set on his hometown as he prepared to launch a festival aimed at bringing the community together.
’’It was quite short notice because of Covid-19 alert level changes,’’ he said of the Timaru festival.
’’A lot of people who went to the Saturday event took photographs and published them on social media which helped. We were happy with Sunday’s result.’’
The event was a success, he said. ‘‘We have seen an opportunity to bring Timaru together and bring some variety to families in the wake of Covid19.