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Ruapehu events scene grows with help from Thermal Explorer funding

The events scene in the Ruapehu District has weathered the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and come out the other side, welcoming new events to the region and building capability with help from the Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund.

Money from the fund has helped local organisation Ohakune Events Charitable Trust (OECT) to get new events off the ground and created a part-time fixed-term role for Ruapehu District Council Event Coordinator Jayde Lowe.

Jayde, who has lived in Ohakune for 10 years and long been involved in local events through her work with OECT, says being able to support and grow events from within council has made their management across the whole district easier.

“The fund has been highly valuable for us, particularly for the events that we’ve put on.

“Ruapehu is such a unique environment – we've got the National Park, all the rivers and the walkways, and we've got new mountain bike tracks going in.”

The Ohakune Blues and Roots Festival in 2023 was enabled by the fund, with bad weather failing to dampen spirits of the locals and out-of-towners who relished the opportunity to enjoy top-tier New Zealand musicians including Troy Kingi, Hollie Smith and Coterie.

The event attracted a different crowd to the town’s well-known Mardi Gras festival, which has been held since 1996 and features cutting-edge electronic music, she says. 

“What we wanted to go for was a music event that we could all go to and take our kids. I took my son – he had a ball.”

One of the region’s highest-profile upcoming events is the Sky Waka Vertical Challenge, being run by OECT in March 2025, where individuals and teams will race up a section of Mount Ruapehu, descend by gondola, and repeat the process as many times as possible. The goal is to clock up as much climb time as possible, racking up enough metres to knock off the competitors’ challenge peak of choice – whether Mt Ruapehu or Mount Everest.

“We wouldn’t be able to put the Sky Waka Vertical Challenge on without the funding as it’s a brand-new event and we really need help marketing and spreading the word to people.”

The OECT is also organising The Goat and the Tussock Traverse next January – two adventure-running events in Tongariro National Park that showcase its awe-inspiring landscape and exhilarating environment.

As well as the financial benefit to local businesses from visitors who flock to the region for events, profits from many events held in the region also benefit the community in other ways. Almost, 300 native trees and shrubs were donated by OECT to plant alongside the Mangawhero River Walk recently and some of the trust’s event profits will be used to buy local kids Christmas presents, Jayde says. 

“All of the events that we put on benefit local businesses and they're the ones that sponsor our smaller local community events like Ohakune Christmas in the Park and the Waimarino A&P Show – so the funding does have flow on effects.”

The Thermal Explorer Regional Events Fund also boosts local event organisers’ capability to create, host and promote events by funding workshops with expert speakers, including a recent Social Media and Content Creation workshop held at Whakapapa. 

Jayde says there has been a strong turnout of event organisers from across the whole district at the capability building workshops, which have also been held locally in National Park and Taumarunui.

“It’s been really cool to have a wide group of people coming along to those workshops.

“The feedback from them is that they were super stoked they came.”

The opportunity to network and share experiences and skills with other event organisers in the region at the workshops is valuable, she says.

“We're more connected now than we have ever been.”

Jayde says in retrospect the workshops are something the region could have been doing all along, they just didn’t know how before, but the benefits are clear. 

“We've always been community-focused with our events, but we never really thought about how we could do more than just give people money to support events and instead teach them how to run them better.

“In every single workshop, there was something that we’re not doing that we could be. There's so much potential for new events or ones that haven’t happened in a while to come back, and the community will support them. The people here are amazing.”

Jayde says most of her funded role with the council involves helping event organisers facilitate local events, guiding them through the planning process, and making sure they’ve got all their paperwork done. 

She supports strategic development to help bring more events to the area and ensure the council’s halls, parks and reserves are being used as efficiently as possible.

Jayde also updates the council’s Fresh Info tool with data on events throughout Ruapehu District, allowing the council to measure the economic value of holding events as well as the local community’s feedback on how events have enhanced its overall wellbeing. 

She says the funding has meant event organisers in the Ruapehu region are now geared up with the tools and skills required to run events in the future, leaving a legacy which will help its events scene flourish.

“The future’s really bright for us – we're not as big as Taupō, but we could be one day.”