My Account
The Mahurangi Winter Festival of Lights has been cancelled in the wake of Covid-19.
Organising committee chair Murray Chapman says given the high possibility that there will still be restrictions on large gatherings this July, and the difficulty of securing sponsorship from businesses in the current economic climate, the festival committee reluctantly decided to delay holding another festival until July next year.
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that in the current circumstances asking businesses to fork out several grand for a festival isn’t going to be a goer,” Mr Chapman says.
Mr Chapman adds that any additional funding from Auckland Council is also likely to be strictly limited due to the difficult economic times.
Nevertheless, the committee will still encourage businesses in the area to light up their premises from July 4 to 20, and it will organise the stringing up of lights in trees around Warkworth.
“We don’t just want the CBD lit up, we hope to have the industrial areas lit up as well,” Mr Chapman says.
“If we do nothing, it will be a lot harder to get the festival up and going again next year. You have got to have a presence.”
Despite the setback this year, Mr Chapman anticipates the festival will come back even bigger and better next year.
Last year, an estimated 6000 people crowded into Warkworth’s Baxter Street on Saturday night, July 20, for the grand finale of the 2019 Mahurangi Winter Festival of Lights.
Festival goers enjoyed a laser light show, ice skating and fun in the snow, together with a cannon spewing foam and a disco in the Old Masonic Hall.
