"I was really confident that Whanganui really wanted this and Whanganui bought tickets! They have supported us which is fantastic and I know this is going to be a wicked event out here it will all be worth it in the end."
The second of their Taste Whanganui events was postponed this weekend but the pair are confident about this weekend's Sound Valley Festival.
"There has definitely been times throughout the year that both of us have gone, what are we doing? This is not fun," Damosso said.
"But we had our first event in October last year and it was amazing. The day was so great and it was exactly what we want for Whanganui and for us and that was enough to keep us going."
Lost Arts organise events with the aim of creating a more vibrant events calendar for their hometown.
"Whanganui is really ready for some of these events," Damosso said. "We've got the population, all these amazing people are moving back to town, we want people to be able to do things in Whanganui instead of always flitting off around the country to go and attend events over there."
Sound Valley Music Festival includes some of NZ's top names in the lineup. But getting the right venue has been a challenge and not having a proven track record made it harder.
"Fair enough to the people that we were meeting with, the police, Bason Reserve Trust and council. We've never put on a festival of this size before," said Damosso. "We knew that we could do this but they were a bit nervous so we decided to move to Cooks and then we were dealing with the same sort of stuff."
Requirements of holding a festival at either of the council owned venues meant much additional planning and costs so when another postponement meant Cooks wouldn't work, they contacted Ocean View Speedway.
"Within a day, we were out here meeting Maryann and Ray and by that night they were like, have it, it's yours. The process was just so easy compared with just the months of meetings and planning for the last two events," Damosso said.
Ocean View Speedway is keen to support future events and to see the unique venue realise its potential.
The new venue also offers camping overnight and is purpose-built for large crowds.
Perched on the hill overlooking the city, it has great views and it's well away from potential noise complaints.
"This venue is so fit for purpose it's crazy, all the fencing, all the portaloos, camping sites, the parking, it's all here. It wasn't at those previous venues."
Tickets for the all ages event are online and fully refundable should the event be cancelled.
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