Auckland Millennium Celebrations Get Funding
Auckland Millennium Celebrations Get Lottery Fundi
Media
Release
Hon Jack Elder
Minister of Internal
Affairs
16 July 1999
AUCKLAND MILLENNIUM CELEBRATIONS
GET LOTTERY FUNDING
The Lottery Grants Board has given
the Auckland City Council
grants totalling $800,000
toward its Millennium celebrations,
Internal Affairs
Minister and Grants Board Chairperson Jack
Elder
announced today.
Auckland City has three major
community events planned for the
New Year's Eve/New
Year's Day period, he said.
The first of these, `This Is
It`, a multi media extravaganza
to be held in the
Auckland Domain on New Year's Eve, attracted
the largest
grant of $500,000.
'This is possibly the largest free
event ever staged in this
country and will have an
enormous cast with professional performers
featuring
alongside cultural and community groups,' Mr Elder
said.
'About 300,000 people are expected to attend and
thousands
more will be able to see it on television
because it is a major
focus of TV3's Millennium broadcast
.'(TV3 is the Government's
official Millennium Host
Broadcaster).
A $100,000 Lottery grant will also help fund
the `This Is It`
climax, a cacophony of fireworks, which
will then spread out
into the harbour and ultimately
include the Sky Tower, Harbour
Bridge and barges around
Rangitoto, he said.
The final key element of Auckland's
millennium celebration, a
dawn ceremony in the Okahu
Domain, received a $200,000 Lottery
grant.
Ngati
Whatua, representatives of Tangata Whenua and Pacific
Island
communities are helping organise the ceremony
which will include
a regatta, waka ceremony and a 2000
strong haka party from throughout
Auckland, Mr Elder
said.
ENDS