Rotorua urged to come up with festival ideas for 2011

Rotorua and the wider Bay of Plenty are being urged to come up with ideas for the biggest festival ever staged in this country, being held around next year’s Rugby World Cup.

The Government has announced a new $9.5 million Lotteries Fund to support community events and activities in every part of the country in the lead-up to and during the Rugby World Cup.

“The Rugby World Cup will be a milestone event for New Zealand, and a great opportunity for us to celebrate as a nation,” said Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully.

“Twenty-three centres are hosting games or teams, so the celebrations, and the economic benefits, are already going to be spread around. But this funding will ensure that spread goes even further.

Applications for the New Zealand 2011 Festival Lottery Fund will close on 17 September, with the successful individuals and groups to be announced in November.

New Zealand 2011 Office Festival Director, Briony Ellis, said the Bay of Plenty had already put forward some great ideas for the festival, and this fund would ensure every good idea could be brought to life.

“We know people from the Bay of Plenty have great ideas about how to showcase their region’s heritage, arts, food and wine, entertainment, experiences and lifestyle,” she said.

“There will be plenty of time between games, so we want to encourage both international visitors and travelling Kiwis to take the long way around from one match to the next, and see the country and meet the people. The festival will be a great way to do that.”

Events organisers throughout the Bay of Plenty are being encouraged to build on their local programmes and take their new or emerging ideas to the local Rugby World Cup coordination group for discussion. All communities are invited to develop project outlines, with supporting budget plans and to submit their applications to this new Lottery committee fund.

The Bay of Plenty region is working up some exciting festival showcase plans for the whole region and some very imaginative events and experiences that will take visitors off the beaten track to engage with local people and stories.

From Rotorua's Festival of Forestry and Wood and FI2011 Wood technology Expo and Symposium, iwi showcase festivals and bike events in Rotorua's world-class mountain bike trails, through to events on Tauranga, Whakatāne and Ōhope beaches, there is so much to bring people here.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union Operations Manager Mike Rogers says this is great news and will really help us to develop some fantastic ideas we have for celebrations in the region around the Rugby World Cup.

“The fact that there was now funding available to help make some of the ideas become reality means that we will be able to put on some great events so that everyone can join in the fun and celebrations of the Rugby World Cup and we’ll be able to really showcase the best of the Bay of Plenty,” Mr Rogers said.

The NZ 2011 Festival Lottery Fund will be administered by the Department of Internal Affairs. The funding has been allocated by the Lottery Grants Board, which distributes the profits of New Zealand Lotteries (including Lotto and Instant Kiwi) to various statutory bodies and distribution committees.

For more information on the fund, visit www.dia.govt.nz or for more information on the festival, visit www.nz2011.govt.nz