Popular midwinter carnival turns into ticketed event and changes location
From reporter Hamish McNeilly:
The Dunedin Midwinter Carnival is one of the city’s most popular events, but organisers have changed the location and introduced ticketing to make it sustainable.
The annual event, traditionally held around the longest night of the year in the city's Octagon, will now take place over two nights – July 8 and 9 – at First Church on Moray Place.
“It is a little different to what we have done before,” Midwinter Trust chairperson Paul Smith said.
The event, which features giant lantern installations and large projections, is now in its 25th year, but Covid restrictions coupled with a rugby test between the All Blacks and Ireland prompted a new plan.
“We ended up adjusting the event, so it could go ahead, and that meant being able to control entry if we needed to.”
Being able to control entry meant it was now a ticketed event, likely to be limited to about 5000 people per night, and costing $5 a ticket.
A decision on what the event would look like in 2023 was yet to be made, Smith said.
“It would depend on the success of this year.”
Covering costs was essential as “these sorts of projects aren’t cheap”.
The $5 ticket price was similar to the ‘koha’ requested as a donation in previous events, which returned less than $10,000 last year.
“It has always been a tricky thing for us. Not everyone understands we are a small non-profit, and it is not the city council putting on the event, and so many volunteer hours go into it.”
The trust also had to store “these beautiful artworks ... and that is another thing that weighs on our minds”.
“We are constantly trying to find ways to make this event more sustainable ... and that is one of our responsibilities as trustees.”
Organisers planned to promote the event to audiences throughout Otago and Southland. Funding from Enterprise Dunedin’s Regional Events Fund had been secured as part of an effort to increase visitors from outside the city.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.9% Summer
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36.6% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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