The 2020 Hastings Weet-Bix kid TRYathlon. The Hastings event has been cancelled two years in a row now. Photo / Warren Buckland
The 2020 Hastings Weet-Bix kid TRYathlon. The Hastings event has been cancelled two years in a row now. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke's Bay events continue to fall like dominos under the red light setting.
Thursday started with the cancellation of one of Hastings' biggest events for children, the Weet-Bix kids' Tryathlon 2022, with the whole series canned and an alternative event offered.
The organisers made an announcement on their website tosay the event could not be postponed for a few months as it was a summer event.
"Our team have worked tirelessly to plan these events over the past months, and we know that our Weet-Bix Kids Tryathlon community will be as disappointed as we are about this news."
It is the second year in a row that the Hastings event has been cancelled.
The organisers are offering a new programme as an alternative called Try, a three-week programme where families and schools can create their own challenges for participating children.
The Meeanee Speedway will be postpone their meeting next weekend until further notice about the red traffic light setting. Photo / Paul Taylor
On Thursday the 2021 NZ Cider Festival, slated for February 12 at the Tomoana Showgrounds, was also cancelled.
Festival director Shelley Haring said in a statement that a decision had to be made now with the event so close, as it would be too difficult to plan ahead to adapt to the red traffic light settings on short notice.
"The move to a red traffic light is devastating for the entire events industry. Our industry was the 'first to stop and the last to restart'. After a difficult year in 2021, we had optimism about 2022, but this is almost the last straw."
The festival organising team is planning for the 2022 festival scheduled for November in Nelson.
The cancellation of Festival Opera's entire season of The Magic Flute set to run at the Napier Municipal Theatre from February 15 to 21 was announced in a statement released yesterday afternoon .
Festival Opera co-founder Sarah Walmsley thanked the cast, crew and volunteers of Project Prima Volta (PPV) for their resilience and understanding.
"Due to Covid-19, PPV and PPV Jnr groups have not had the chance to take the stage since 2020. This cancellation is another blow to their journey and the positive social impact the programmes deliver."
Festival Opera co-founder Anna Pierard said she hoped the production could be resumed in 2023.
A Meeanee Speedway meeting scheduled for January 29 has been postponed, according to an announcement on the speedway website.
The announcement said new event dates were being worked on, and more information would be available when the Government confirmed details of how long the red setting would last.
Speedway events can attract crowds of up to 5000 to the venue.
Outfields Festival promoter Reuben Vergis said a decision on whether to postpone or cancel the February 12 event will be announced tomorrow afternoon .
