Economic analysts say summer festival fun and big gigs at New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park and Bowl of Brooklands have topped-up Taranaki’s economy by $10.9 million – without counting Te Matatini and Womad.
New Plymouth District Council hosted the TSB Festival of Lights in the park and two concerts at the Bowl and says the events racked up $21.2 million of spending.
It meant an extra eleven million dollars of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) generated in Taranaki’s economy, according to analysts at Business and Economic Research Ltd (BERL).
Whānau thronged to Pukekura over five weeks for the council’s annual free Festival of Lights.
Two concerts – Rock the Bowl featuring disbanding hard rockers Shihad and the dub-reggae stylings of L.A.B with Stan Walker & Friends – took the count of summer punters to more than 170,000.
BERL reports for the festival and the concerts found Taranaki hosted some 36,000 out-of-region visitors, who stayed 77,343 nights.
The numbers don’t include the GRDP boost coming from the national kapa haka champs and the annual festival of the world’s music, art and dance – both hosted in the Bowl of Brooklands’ natural amphitheatre at the end of summer.
The local organising arm for Te Matatini o te Kāhui Maunga, Ngā Iwi o Taranaki, expects a spend of $20-25 million to be reported next month when the festival assessment is finalised.
Ngā Iwi o Taranaki acting pouwhakahaere Emere Wano said estimates of attendance and financial gains became a frustrating distraction as news and social media tended to inflate the numbers unrealistically.
“Our estimates are based on what emerged from Te Matatini last time in Auckland, when they had around 50,000 attending over four days,” she said.
“Although Auckland was a bit bigger it tends to be more expensive to mount events in the regions, so we expect the spend here to be about the same.”
Wano said 40,000 attended over the five days of Taranaki’s biggest-ever event with notably strong local support.
Two weeks later Womad Aotearoa brought international and New Zealand acts back to the Bowl for the seventeenth time.
Cost of living rises and the Government-induced recession to control inflation hit Womad 2025 hard, with the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust reckoning 12,000 came through the gates each of the three days, down a quarter on previous years.
Womad is said typically to add some $6 million to Taranaki’s economy and despite the smaller crowds the festival still spent up large on over a thousand staff, 17 kilometres of fencing, seven kilometres of cabling, 382 lighting fixtures and 120 flushable toilets.
New Plymouth District Mayor Neil Holdom was pleased with the council’s success in a difficult year.
“Each year, we receive great feedback from the mesmerising light installations and entertainment… but the challenge is keeping up those high standards,” said Holdom.
“The world-class venues and events… show off what we can do in our ‘sustainable lifestyle capital’ to cater for all types of audiences and create amazing experiences.’
TSB Bank chief executive Kerry Boielle said positive community outcomes made it easy for the bank to stump up for naming rights.
“Watching parents and kids dance under the giant disco balls and having so much fun really made me feel a sense of pride, for us playing a part in making such an awesome event free for all to enjoy,” said Ms Boielle.
The destination manager at Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki said major events were crucial visitor attractions and summer of shows was one of the busiest.
Brylee Flutey said it significantly boosted the economy “while also positioning Taranaki as a diverse, vibrant visitor destination”.
In 2021 the Bowl of Brooklands was awarded Large Venue of the Year by the Entertainment Venues Association of New Zealand.
The TSB Festival of Lights also won two 2021 New Zealand Event Association Awards: Best Government Event and New Zealand’s Favourite Event – as voted by the public.
This year’s festival featured 13 light installations, outdoor movie screenings and 80 events.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air.
