The ideas that people have come up with cover a broad range of activities, involving the arts, gardens, transport (of all types), visual media and sports, as our feature on Page 4 reveals.
All the finalists are ready to have their events up and running next year, and the more than $15,000 worth of help and mentoring up for grabs at next Wednesday's showdown will go a long way to help them realise their ambitions.
The event is the brainchild of Whanganui and Partners marketing manager Lyn Cheyne and Whanganui Events Trust chief executive Kathy Cunningham, and they are to be applauded for their foresight. They were looking for smart ideas, and the fact they got plenty of them is a sign that there are creative minds among us.
Den of Dragons fits with event creation which is a core part of Whanganui District Council's economic development and visitor strategy. The proposed events had to show they would occur between March and October; would attract visitors from outside the district; would support Whanganui's reputation in arts, culture and heritage; and would utilise its venues and sportsgrounds -- and there's no doubt the six finalists fit that bill.
All that's left is facing the judges in a "live" final in the War Memorial Centre on July 27.
So to them all we say "Best of luck" -- regardless of the outcome, it's our community that will be the winner.
