Organisers have dramatically lowered the fees for a creative sector symposium to be held in Whangarei, but say the move is not because the original price was too high.
Chart (Culture, Heritage, Arts Resource Trust) chairman Paul Voigt admitted the uptake of tickets for Totems and Totara had been slower than anticipated but said high profile issues, such as the Hundertwasser debate, may have distracted attention from the symposium. He said a strong response from sponsors and grants received had made it possible to reduce the fees from $150 to $99 for the three-day event, from $100 to $66 for students and from $80 to $55 for one-day attendance.
The event from May 11 to 13 has a line-up of international and national speakers on various topics, including creative communities and the role arts can play in civic planning. The key note speaker is international "urbanist" Peter Kageyama, author of For the Love of Cities, about enhancing the appeal and ease of living in cities.
The organisers have made the Sunday workshop with Mr Kageyama free for Northland's creative sector to maximise the turnout - "as it will be an important event in shaping our future direction," Mr Voigt said.
"Chart and the organising group decided that as it was an important event for Whangarei and Northland, we needed to make it as accessible as possible so a fee reduction was approved based on the funding received. In particular, the new fees will enable more students to attend."