Festival To Be Significantly Scaled-back

The Grow Ō Tautahi Trust has made the decision to significantly scale-back the Festival following recent Government announcements about the COVID-19 virus.

* The opening night event (Thursday 19 March 2020), which would have been a gathering of more than 250 people, will be cancelled.

* All programme events which were to be held indoors or in marquees – workshops, panel sessions and the garden kitchen demonstrations – will be cancelled.
* Construction has started on many of the exhibition gardens, outdoor exhibits, the school gardens and the combined community garden and this can continue. We will be in touch with these groups individually and this direction will be subject to any further advice from Government.

In a statement yesterday, the Prime Minister indicated the Government would be announcing further guidelines on mass gatherings early in the week. Of particular note was the indication that this guidance would give particular consideration to non-ticketed events, where for instance there is no seat allocation making it difficult to contact trace.

Festival Director and Trustee Sandi MacRae says the Trust has decided to take a cautious approach to hosting the Festival and is paying close attention to Government guidelines.

“Given the indication that an announcement this week would give particular attention non-ticketed events, we believe it is very likely that public events like Grow Ō Tautahi would be affected.

“I have also spoken to a number of partners over the last 24 hours who have indicated that, due to official work and travel restrictions, they would be unable to participate in the Festival.

“We are very disappointed for all of our exhibitors, community groups, schools, sponsors, volunteers and supporters who have given so much of their time and energy to the Festival. However, we make this decision based on Government guidelines and with public health uppermost in our minds.

“The Trust is meeting today to discuss options for the future and ways we might be able to hold some of the intended events at other locations at a more appropriate time. We will begin discussions with potential venue and event partners soon to talk about possibilities to hold the programme events at a later date.

“We are also committed to bring Grow Ō Tautahi to the people of Christchurch in 2021. Our planning will continue in coming weeks and months and we’ll be talking to you soon about this.”

www.growotautahi.org.nz

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