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