Raising funds for the festival

Press, 2 March 1984, Page 12

Raising funds for the festival

When the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council pulled the rug out from under the Christchurch Arts Festival by withdrawing its funding in 1981, it looked very much as though that would be the end of Christchurch’s twoyearly festival of arts and entertainment. The 1982 Festival had to be cancelled — there just was not enough money to pay for organising it. The Christchurch Festival Society, however, refused to give up without a fight, and looked around the local community for some support. They found it in the

Christchurch Arts Centre — a unique cluster of neoGothic buildings housing innumerable theatre, ballet, music and fringe groups, artists, craftspeople and various community organisations, administered by a few professionals based in a small office. It was Ray Sleeman, the director of the Christchurch Arts Centre, who could see the possibilities in taking on the arts festival. He became the director of the festival, and took on an administrator (Kate Willmott) and an events manager (John Page). By employing three full

time staff, the Christchurch Festival becomes the most carefully-planned festival the city has had. One of the first things they did was change the name of the festival and drop the words “arts” from its title.

“When we started trying to raise funds in the city, we found there was quite a reaction to the word ‘arts’,” said John Page. With a background in student festivals and theatre promotion, John Page has been responsible for getting the festival programme together and promoting the festival in the community. “Arts has a negative image in the community at the moment — a parasitical image, of taki.-g money and not putting anything back,” he says. “People understand entertainment, but often don’t see ‘arts’ as entertainment.”

“We have been really emphasising the tangible and intangible benefits of the arts and particularly an event of this scale,” he said. Besides, the Christchurch Festival is not simply a

festival of the arts. Under its big umbrella comes such a diversity of events as a children’s film festival, a floral festival, an open air concert and a military band display, with the Coldstream Guards and the New Zealand Army Band, at the Q.E. II Stadium.

With the problem of the name sorted out, the festival staff then started to look at ways of raising funds. A lot of community support was coming forward, so they hit upon the idea of a huge auction, selling goods donated by local businesses and individuals.

Goods offered for auction ranged from home appliances to novelty items, such as a night on the town with the “McPhail and Gadsby” actress, Lin Waldegrave, tickets to attend a show with the presenter of “Radio With Pictures,” Karyn Hay, and a ski-ing trip with Ms Marilyn Waring, M.P. for Waipa.

The auction, held in June, raised $21,000 for the festival — slightly less than expected but welcome

nevertheless. Further funding has come from the Metropolitan Grants Committee ($5000), the Christchurch City Council’s Community Development Fund ($10,000) and the Southern Regional Arts Council ($5600 cash and $4350 in guarantees against loss for certain events).

The rest of the funding has come from corporate and private donations, and cash sponsorship of various events by local businesses.

“It’s all calculated to make the festival break even,” said John Page.

Marketing of the festival continued to be high-profile, with an advisory group under the chairmanship of Christchurch Commonwealth Games organiser, Sir Ron Scott, spearheading the campaign.

Tickets for festival events are being sold at the special festival ticket office, housed in a converted Railways freight boxcar in the middle of the City Mall. Tickets are also available at the Town Hall.