The Amjazz dancers will be making an appearance at this year's Harcourts Vegas Showtime For Hospice. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Amjazz dancers will be making an appearance at this year's Harcourts Vegas Showtime For Hospice. Photo / Andrew Warner
A night in Vegas is usually one you try to forget, but come August 23, a night in RotoVegas will be one to remember and for all the right reasons.
Harcourts Vegas Showtime for Hospice is set to bring the sparkle, excitement and high-stakes fun of Sin City to Rotoruain the name of a good cause.
The glamorous fundraising event is raising vital funds for Rotorua Community Hospice, which supports about 420 patients and their whānau each year through compassionate end-of-life care.
Rotorua Hospice fundraising and marketing manager Nicola de Lautour said the event would be “laying on the glamour”.
Government funding covered only half of Hospice’s operating costs de Lautour said. The rest must be raised by the organisation.
“It’s tricky for hospices at the moment,” she said.
Vegas Showtime is taking the place of much-loved Dancing for Hospice, a charity dancing competition that raised more than $100,000 for Rotorua Hospice last year.
De Lautour said Vegas Showtime would be equally as show-stopping.
Unlike Dancing for Hospice, which drew more than 1600 people, Vegas Showtime was designed to be a more “intimate” evening out, with about 200 guests expected to gather at Rydges Rotorua.
Organisers have been planning the event since December, and de Lautour said all the “glitz and glamour” was coming together to make it a “really special night out”.
Nicky Fraser and David Livingstone - past winners of the Harcourts Dancing For Hospice.
Photo / Andrew Warner
A highlight is a live auction, with eight premium prize packages up for grabs, including two trips to Fiji, one with return flights valued at more than $10,000. Also on offer are luxury spa experiences, wine and garden bundles, and a Martinborough getaway.
Guests can also spin a wheel for instant prizes in exchange for a donation, with rewards including supermarket and pharmacy gift cards.
Entertainment included performances from Kiwi legends Tina Cross and The Lady Killers, Frankie Stevens, AMJazz dancers, and magician-comedian Brendan Dooley, who will also be MC.
Kiwi music icon Tina Cross is performing at Vegas Showtime for Hospice.
Photo / Dean Purcell
One of the night’s surprise features was a celebrity version of Deal or No Deal.
For de Lautour, the night’s success wouldn’t be measured by dollars alone.
She hoped guests would enjoy getting dressed up and spending a fun night out with friends, family or colleagues, whether they were long-time supporters or first-timers.
Each ticket included a welcome drink and canapés on arrival, followed by bread and a two-course meal served at your table.
The event kicks off at 5.30pm and wraps up by 11pm.
Annabel Reid is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.
