Last week a $9.5 million lottery fund was announced to support nationwide festival events during the Rugby World Cup 2011. Festival Director Briony Ellis talks about the huge task of coordinating the festival and the important part arts and culture play in showcasing New Zealand.

"We know that visitors are looking for authentic experiences where they can learn about and experience new cultures and engage with local people."

The festival will be held at the same as the Rugby World Cup Tournament - from 9 September to 23 October 2011. Applications for the NZ 2011 Festival Lottery Fund close on 17 September 2010.

Name and title: NZ 2011 Festival Director Briony Ellis

Who established the nationwide festival around RWC, and when?

The nationwide festival was established and is being coordinated by the government’s New Zealand 2011 Office, which is working on a number of programmes aimed at making the most of the opportunities which come with hosting one of the world’s biggest sports events. The New Zealand 2011 Office was set up in September 2009.

Why was the festival established?

New Zealand is hosting one of the world’s largest sporting events next year. Rugby World Cup 2011 creates a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase New Zealand to the world. The nationwide festival builds on the Tournament experience and takes visitors on a broader journey. The programme will offer experiences that will enrich the engagement domestic and international visitors have with New Zealand and New Zealanders, as they journey from match to match. The festival will extend the travels of the 85,000 international visitors we’re expecting during September and October next year, but it’s just as much for New Zealanders. Many Kiwis will take this opportunity to travel to get to matches – sometimes to parts of New Zealand they have never been to before – and it’s a great chance for us to celebrate our country and what’s important to us.

It’s part of being a ‘stadium of 4 million’ – a whole country really ready to embrace the event and put on the best celebration we can. It’s the way we do things in New Zealand – it’s manaakitanga – our way of making our visitors welcome. As well as making it the best Rugby World Cup ever, we want to make the festival a uniquely New Zealand event, and create an unforgettable experience for everyone who makes the journey to, and through, our country.

What is the main aim and vision of the festival?

The main aim of the festival is to showcase New Zealand’s arts, culture and heritage, stories, experiences and industries, celebrating ourselves and what we love most about our country. We want to engage locals and visitors alike, giving New Zealanders a chance to discover more about our country and enriching the New Zealand experience for visitors – to create an unforgettable New Zealand experience for Rugby World Cup 2011.

Why is it important to hold the festival and showcase arts and culture during the Rugby World Cup?

A lot of people will be in New Zealand to follow the rugby. Their itineraries will have times when there are a few days between matches, so we want to encourage both international visitors and travelling Kiwis to take the long way around from one match to the next, and see the country and meet the people as they go – to really learn about and experience New Zealand. The festival will be a great way to do that – and a way to encourage visitors to stay in New Zealand longer.

The festival will focus on giving visitors a broad, engaging and quintessentially Kiwi experience and we want to make sure that arts and culture play a big part in that experience. A lot of the tourism research shows that international visitors don’t always know a lot about New Zealand culture, but that both Kiwis and overseas visitors who attend cultural events here really enjoy them. We also know that international visitors have a higher overall satisfaction with their whole visit when they participate in something cultural. So the festival is a great opportunity for us to really engage people in our arts and culture and deepen their understanding of our country and what we have to offer.

How will the festival be branded and promoted?

There’ll be an official launch of the festival on 9 September 2010, a year out from the start of the Tournament and that’s when we’ll announce the festival name and the look and feel.

The key communication tool for the festival is the NZ2011 website. In terms of marketing we’ll have strong online focus – both nationally and internationally – and each region will have its own marketing activities as well, so there will be plenty of exposure for artists and organisations that are part of the festival.

The goal with our programme promotion is to ensure that visitors making plans to come to New Zealand to follow the Tournament, have relevant information and ideas to consider that lengthen or broaden their plans around what to do with the days between matches. We are timing our release of festival information to coincide with the roll-out of Rugby World Cup ticketing packages – the festival and the Tournament are two parts of the same journey for overseas visitors, and for New Zealanders too, who might make their between-match plans a bit later than those travelling far further to be here.

Will festival events go beyond the 23 centres hosting RWC 2011? How will you ensure regional spread and support?

Absolutely. The festival is about showcasing all of New Zealand, well beyond those 23 centres. This is a nationwide festival – it’s the first time in our history that one festival will be held right around the country for six weeks. And every region is taking part and making the most of the opportunity to showcase its unique stories, its distinctiveness, and its own regional flavours and attractions.

Every part of New Zealand is committed to creating events and experiences for the national festival that show off the best elements of their region. The new NZ 2011 Festival Lottery Fund will further support regional community events and activities.

When will the events take place – will it extend beyond the RWC 2011?

The dates of the festival are the same as the Rugby World Cup Tournament – from 9 September to 23 October 2011, but there will be some iconic Kiwi events in the lead-up to and after the Tournament dates that will be included in the festival programme.

What are some of the short-term and long-term benefits of the Festival?

One of the really important aspects of the work of the NZ 2011 office and the festival, in particular, is to ensure that there are leverage and legacy outcomes for the work that we do.

Some benefits are already evident – there are a lot of great examples of organisations and unrelated “sectors” working together to develop really smart and creative experiences for the festival.

The festival will give overseas visitors reasons to consider coming earlier, staying longer, travelling further, spending more, perhaps buying more tickets for the Tournament and travelling further than they originally planned to, attending arts, cultural, heritage, industry showcase, or community events, engaging with New Zealanders and creating memories to take home and share.  This is about creating a stronger, deeper awareness and understanding of New Zealand – we want to connect visitors (local and international) in a meaningful way with our country and our people. In turn those visitors will want to return, and to tell their friends and families what a great place New Zealand is to visit, to live or to do business.

Tell us a little bit about your background?

For the last two decades I’ve been making and marketing festivals and events, including the NZ International Festival of the Arts, Auckland Festival, Christchurch Arts Festival and the Opening Day of Te Papa. I’ve also worked extensively in the area of sponsorship and fundraising for festivals, events and major cultural projects, most recently raising $9 million to deliver Blue Water Black Magic – A Tribute to Sir Peter Blake, which opened late last year at Voyager NZ Maritime Museum in Auckland, developed jointly by Voyager and Te Papa.

How and why did you become involved in the festival?

I’ve travelled around New Zealand all my life, and I’ve learnt lots about the country and the qualities that differentiate each region – the stories, the distinctive food and wine, the culture and the languages. And throughout my working life, I’ve worked on festivals and events that showcase those distinctive qualities – from orientation and capping festivals, to film festivals and arts festivals – it’s been all about New Zealand and our people, and what is most important to us. I can’t think of a greater privilege than to be charged with bringing that to life in this celebration for RWC 2011.

What’s involved in the preparation for Festival?  What combination of people and resources are required?

Anyone who has worked on a big event or festival will know it is a huge undertaking. This festival is truly unique – it’s built up from a series of regional festivals coordinated, and developed, at a national level. It is the first time there has ever been a nationwide festival that runs alongside a Rugby World Cup and it’s also the first time that there has been a festival in New Zealand that is held right around the country over a period of six weeks.

It’s also a festival that has incredibly broad programme scope as it includes everything from farmers’ markets to music, from art to heartland rugby, from waka sprints to woodchopping, from wildfoods to wine, from ballet to bike races, from theatre to taonga and from exhibitions to extreme sports.

So, it is a very large project and there aren’t many precedents. At the NZ 2011 Office, where the festival is being developed, the team is drawn from a broad base. We are connected to the Ministry of Economic Development, and we have individuals on the team who are seconded, or engaged with us from across government (from Tourism New Zealand, Te Puni Kokiri, the Ministries for Culture and Heritage and the Environment and of Trade & Enterprise and Foreign Affairs). In addition there are a handful of festival and event experts engaged to develop particular areas of the festival programme. 

Why was the NZ 2011 Festival Lottery Fund set up and why is it important?

The lottery fund will complement the significant investment that regions and the government are already making in the nationwide festival. It will enable many more community and regional projects to be undertaken that will deliver on those goals of showing off New Zealand’s stories, cultures and heritage – and giving a sense of what’s important to us and our country.

Applications opened on July 28 and close on 17 September 2010 – so make sure you get your application in soon. You can find the application forms at  www.dia.govt.nz/2011FLF. And if you have any questions you can call 0800 824 824. 

What kind of projects will it fund?

Funding from the NZ 2011 Festival Lottery Fund will support community events and activities associated with Rugby World Cup 2011 that celebrate New Zealand’s culture, heritage and diversity. Check out the criteria here.

What will not be funded?

The kinds of things that won’t qualify for the Lotteries Fund are capital expenditure projects, Fan Zones, commercial ventures events or activities not linked to the nationwide festival around Rugby World Cup 2011 and costs for any promotional activity which has a commercial nature. More details are available here.

Who makes the decision about what is funded?

The fund will be administered by the Department of Internal Affairs, and decisions will be made by members of the 2011 Group – Bob Parker, Sir David Gascoigne, Bob Harvey, Sharon Hunter and Wally Stone.

Overall, what do you hope the festival itself achieves?

We know that visitors are looking for authentic experiences where they can learn about and experience new cultures and engage with local people. We want Kiwis and visitors from overseas who are coming to Rugby World Cup 2011 to have a fantastic experience while they are here. They may have a very clear idea of the kind of world-class rugby experience they will get when they go to a RWC 2011 match – but the festival will be part of what makes the unexpected, unforgettable, engaging and enriching experience they will take away with them.