Art Deco Weekend has come and gone and what an absolute cracker it was. We have had the worst summer weather wise that I can remember and we saved our best two days for Art Deco Weekend. How clever is that?
It is obvious that the Art Deco Trust has put its recent problems behind it and from my perspective at least, the weekend appeared to be very well run. Over the years the Trust has developed a formula for the weekend which clearly works. Having a formula is generally considered to be a good policy for an event like Art Deco Weekend because it means that the individual components of the weekend are ones that are tried and true. The danger of working to a formula is that the weekend could in time lose its vibrancy. And that’s going to be the challenge for the Art Deco Trust in the future. How do they continue to provide the events that people have come to expect and thoroughly enjoy, whilst at the same time adding freshness to the weekend that keeps people coming back year after year.
One thing I would like to see is a revamp of the street parade. I drove one of the early cars in the parade this year and the crowd were clearly pleased to see us. In previous years I have been much further back in the parade and frankly, many in the crowd looked bored. Perhaps we need more bands, clowns, street performers, marching girls – those sorts of things to break up the procession of vintage vehicles.
I also think we need to do more for the vintage car owners and families. This years Gatsby Picnic on the Sunday was great and the ability to picnic beside your vintage car was a great touch. These are the sort of new ideas I applaud and that will continue to encourage support for the weekend.
As a keen vintage vehicle owner, I would like to see the vehicles driving around town more. Sure they look good parked up and on display but in my view they look twice as good driving around the town.
And we need to involve Ahuriri much more. I know it is not our Art Deco quarter, but it is increasingly becoming our entertainment quarter and we need to include Ahuriri in our celebrations.
So congratulations to all those who worked so hard to make Art Deco Weekend 2010 such a success.
The event was a credit to you.
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