A big day for all!
The 2023 Mahurangi Winter Festival of Lights has been and gone and what an amazing day & night it was. Not just for the festival organisers but also for all of the many families that attended and many local businesses.
Let’s start off with the organisers. This popular event is organised by myself and a small group of friends. We start work in February and spend many hours putting it all together, filling in the countless Council forms that are required these days to run any event; From traffic management, health & safety, waste minimisation, and even terrorism self-assessment, the paperwork all mounts up! The volunteer team also spends a huge amount of time making sure that every amusement, food truck, and band will be there on time for everyone on the day. A lot of time is spent organising and especially on the day when we are on the street at 6am and often don’t get home until after 11pm.
The part of the festival that gives us the most joy is the looks of pure joy on the faces of the families and especially the children during the day. There is no better feeling for us than walking through the crowd and hearing the shrieks of joy as they are on the rides or in the snow pit or giant slide.
All of this joy makes the hard work, long days, and sleepless nights worthwhile. It even puts into context the few negative people who just can’t help themselves and put up negative posts on Facebook. The thing I’ve noticed about these people is you never ever see their names associated with anything positive or contributing to anything about the town. They are, I believe, best ignored. Thankfully the overwhelming positive reviews create a much louder voice in the community.
Another really positive element of the festival is the support we receive from our local businesses. Apart from the $5000 we receive from the Local Board, all other funding to run the festival comes from sponsorship from local businesses such as Gull Matakana, Warkworth ITM, and many others who can be found on the festival website www.mahulightfestival.nz We owe them our full gratitude! Make sure you let them know they are appreciated by supporting these generous local businesses.
Another element of what makes the festival so special is what it does for our local businesses. I love how good our town looks with so many businesses lit up. There were some really stunning displays this year! Although you don’t have to be an art director or spend lots of money to light up your windows. There were plenty of businesses with simple and cheerful light strings in their windows that added to the sparkle of the town. And while I do get frustrated with those who don’t string lights, I live in the hope that they will realise that $30/40 worth of lights makes them a part of the festival.
I want to acknowledge the many people who volunteered with feet on the ground on the day to help run the festival. From an organisers point of view, you made our life so much easier, and we couldn’t have done it without you.
Finally, the really positive outcome of the festival is how much business local hospitality businesses do on Festival Saturday! During the day all of the cafes that were open did a brisk trade, and from early in the day until late in the evening, all of the takeaway and restaurants were run off their feet. In fact, some told us they had their busiest days on record! Even with the presence of fifteen food trucks in town, some hospitality businesses had wait times of over an hour and ran short of food! This festival brought the crowds and the money to town. We look forward to sharing with you the official reports released from Marketview to see the actual spending figures from the day once we have them.
The Mahurangi Winter Festival of Lights is run by local volunteers, to bring joy and fun to families and to encourage visitors to visit and spend money in our town. I think we have to all agree that this year was our most successful festival ever! Thank you to all who played their part and to all who came along and joined the fun. We looking forward to doing it all again next year!
Murray Chapman
Manager, One Mahurangi Business Association
murray@onemahurangi.co.nz
www.onemahurangi.co.nz
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