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Cityscape Christmas 2019

Bring on the party, Cityscapers! Addington Cup Week kicks off the season we love to love, and we are sooo ready. We bring you all the deets on the biggest week in Christchurch’s social calendar. Important information like what the judges are looking for in The Crossing Fashion Starts Here Best Dressed Competition and stuff about the racing as well, like pointers on how to pick a winner. And thanks to Callam Mitchell and his team at Team Event, Addington Cup Week is just the start of party season. We talk to the promoter putting the icing on Christchurch’s cake this summer. Ladi6 is just one of the fantastic artists he is bringing to town, and we check in with her as well (that’s her gorgeous self on the cover). The days are counting down to Christmas and with that comes the fun and the challenge of finding the perfect gift for all those on your ‘Nice’ list. We live to serve here at Cityscape, and so we have served up a curated Christmas gift guide brimming with ideas fresh and failsafe. Nailing that pressy list is the best reason possible for heading to the central city and exploring its retail hotspots, followed by a drink and some nibbles, of course. We shine our spotlight on what’s new in the inner city, from retail meccas to the hottest hospo hangouts. And if 2020 is looking like the year to put a ring on it, check out our feature on the amazingly creative community of jewellers we have in this city. As always, we also bring you what’s hot in cuisine, events, home and couture.

Bring on the party, Cityscapers! Addington Cup Week kicks off the season we love to love, and we are sooo ready. We bring you all the deets on the biggest week in Christchurch’s social calendar. Important information like what the judges are looking for in The Crossing Fashion Starts Here Best Dressed Competition and stuff about the racing as well, like pointers on how to pick a winner. And thanks to Callam Mitchell and his team at Team Event, Addington Cup Week is just the start of party season. We talk to the promoter putting the icing on Christchurch’s cake this summer. Ladi6 is just one of the fantastic artists he is bringing to town, and we check in with her as well (that’s her gorgeous self on the cover). The days are counting down to Christmas and with that comes the fun and the challenge of finding the perfect gift for all those on your ‘Nice’ list. We live to serve here at Cityscape, and so we have served up a curated Christmas gift guide brimming with ideas fresh and failsafe. Nailing that pressy list is the best reason possible for heading to the central city and exploring its retail hotspots, followed by a drink and some nibbles, of course. We shine our spotlight on what’s new in the inner city, from retail meccas to the hottest hospo hangouts. And if 2020 is looking like the year to put a ring on it, check out our feature on the amazingly creative community of jewellers we have in this city. As always, we also bring you what’s hot in cuisine, events, home and couture.

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THE CROWD WHISPERER

WE ALSO LIKE TO USE THE

ENVIRONMENT TO CREATE LITTLE

NOOKS AND CRANNIES ...

IT CREATES AN ENVIRONMENT

OF DISCOVERY.

Above: Great Kiwi

Beer Festival.

well as being able to visualise a site and how

the crowd will flow. We also like to use the

environment to create little nooks and

crannies – especially with Electric Avenue, as

it creates an environment of discovery. We

also measure crowd flow rates, so there’s

some mathematical calculations involved as

well. We have a skilled team who have been

involved with these festivals since very early

on who all play a part in this, and the crowd

experience is always at the forefront of our

planning. How soon do you need to start

planning for an event to be a success?

What’s the timeline? The timelines are

always different. For existing festivals, our

planning starts as soon as one finishes,

whereas for new events the planning can be

years. We have been looking at taking the

Great Kiwi Beer Festival to the North Island

for about five years but only a few months

ago settled on a city and venue, which is

Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton. From

there we’ve allowed six months to promote

and deliver the event. With planning an

event, what keeps you awake at night?

What do you have the least control over?

Securing lineups is always a difficult exercise,

particularly for Electric Avenue. New

Zealand’s isolated location makes it

expensive to bring artists out and requires a

long lead-in time for artists as it often

requires shows throughout Australasia to

make travelling this far viable. As most of our

events are outdoors, we have the least

control over the weather, but event

management is all about risk mitigation, and

we are well insured for those worst-case

scenarios. How did you get into the

business? I dropped out of university in 1998

to open a nightclub and it sort of stemmed

from there really. We were regularly hosting

touring DJs and staging events there. From

there I promoted a multi-club inner-city

festival in Christchurch called Unity, which

ran twice yearly for a number of years. Over

this period I also owned a record store and

DJ’d for many years, playing at many festivals

and dance parties – so it made sense to keep

the promotion side of things going once I

hung up my headphones. What was your

first event? My first event was a School Cert

after-party at my parents’ house when I was

16. I played high school cricket at the time

and knew we were in for a pretty big turnout

when I heard our opposition team talking

about it that day! Needless to say it got a

little out of control. What mistake have you

learned the most from? I wouldn’t say I’ve

learned the most from any particular

47 CITYSCAPE.CO.NZ Christmas 19

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