Optimism remains high amid changes to Waipā events

A number of Waipā events have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19 Alert Level restrictions but optimism remains high among organisers, says Council.

At Delta Level 2, events can still go ahead but with limited numbers affecting how many can attend, many event organisers are carefully weighing up the financial risk.

Delta Level 2 requires a maximum of 50 people for indoor events, and 100 people outdoors. These limits include event staff and participants. People must also keep a 2-metre distance from people not in their bubble.

Mighty River Domain Site Manager and Waipā District Deputy Mayor Liz Stolwyk, said from a venue perspective that they were optimistic, and hoped for some more certainty soon.

“It’s a challenging time but we are working collaboratively with event organisers to support them and it’s great to see that we have more postponements than cancellations.”

With the previous level 2 guidelines allowing up to 100 people in an indoor space and a 1-metre distance, many event organisers have been frustrated they cannot proceed under Alert Levels 2 and 3, despite having stringent safety and control measures in place.

Waipā District Council’s Event and Marketing Advisors, Amber Diprose and Claire Culph, noted that it was hard to provide certainty when alert levels and the notice period for changing to levels was so short.

“People don't like uncertainty and from past experience, changes in alert levels can be only for a short period of time. We’re hopeful that as the country’s vaccination rates increase, so too can our confirmed events for the Waipā events season,” Culph said.

“We need the alert levels to be at level 1 for the majority of events to go ahead. Most events run at more than 100 people, so alert level 2 settings are not feasible for the majority of event organisers” added Diprose.

The resulting impact on the entertainment and hospitality sectors in Waipā is expected to be significant, Council is optimistic that the local economy will remain in a relatively robust shape.

“Event organisers have to be realistic and people are being very cautious but I would like to see us getting back to Level 1 as soon as possible so our events landscape can get on with that certainty. We know our community really love to get behind events as they bring such a vibrancy to our towns”, said Mayor Jim Mylchreest.

To find out all guidelines in place for running events at Delta Level 2, head to covid19.govt.nz/activities/events-and-entertainment/#events-and-entertainment-at-alert-level-2. For more information about what events are on in Waipā, visit whatsonwaipa.co.nz.