Stylish new look for Napier's Winter Deco weekend festival

This week's Winter Art Deco soiree is set to be a standout. Photo/File

This year's Winter Deco Weekend, set to start this Friday, is shaping up to be another bumper event with ticket sales already exceeding last year.

Glen Pickering, Art Deco Trust Festival director, said this year's success was in part due to the focus on giving the event a sophisticated and stylish look and feel. "This is our boutique event and we want it to ooze of elegance and sophistication."

Mr Pickering said it was also due to a combination of new and refreshed events for this year. With the introduction of new events such as the High Society Soiree and the Radio Play High Tea, along with refreshed events such as the Bertie Brunch and the Winter Cafe Crawl it has proven to be a popular formula. "Audiences responded incredibly with a couple of events selling out within the first few days of sale, which is common for the summer festival but a first for the winter event."

This new look and feel is what excited Darren Diack, managing director of Gemco, which is the associated sponsor of Winter Deco Weekend, about this year's event.

"We love Winter Deco Weekend because it's a chance to check out the new, different and interesting events on offer. Also when you have things like the vintage railcar and vintage car rides it makes for a fun and exciting weekend for the whole family which just adds to the vibrancy of Napier's CBD."

This vibrancy of Napier's CBD and activation of the local economy was another focus for this year's Winter Deco Weekend.

Shane Gorst, Art Deco Trust's general manager said: "It's all positive for our local economy having these successful winter events. Coming off the back of another wonderful Winter FAWC and then the influx of Lions supporters for the last couple of weeks, the Napier CBD has been abuzz."

The Winter Deco Weekend has events taking place in several different Hawke's Bay restaurants, bars and cafes as well as free events in the Napier CBD on Saturday from 11.30am onwards, including vintage cars, dancing, music and spectacular winter fashion.

Winter Deco Weekend is on from Friday, July 14, till Sunday, July 16. Tickets available from iticket.co.nz or at the Art Deco Centre, 7 Tennyson St, Napier.

The full Winter Deco Weekend programme is available online at www.artdeconapier.com