CubaDupa is supremely super! Capital’s community awards announced
The street carnival that brings the Capital alive with colour, community spirit and a heap of creative craziness was
named the Supreme Winner of the 2016 Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards for Wellington City on 1 August.
The awards acknowledge the contribution of voluntary and non-profit organisations to Wellington and are sponsored by
Wellington International Airport in partnership with the Wellington Community Trust.
CubaDupa is an annual festival of Wellington’s much-loved Cuba Street, transforming the popular creative precinct into a
magical interactive playground of performance, sound and taste across two days. This year’s event, CubaDupa’s second,
was held March 19-20.
The judges praised CubaDupa for the large volunteer base at the heart of the festival, and the collaborative nature of
the event bringing together diverse performers, organisations and attendees from around the region and beyond.
Mayor Wade-Brown praised CubaDupa’s success in bringing together many of Wellington’s diverse communities for a weekend
of celebration, and commended all the community organisations recognised at last night’s awards.
“Our communities, our diversity and our creativity make up the fabric of Wellington,” says Mayor Wade-Brown. “The
Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards recognise the contributions of so many volunteers, our community sector and
people who strive to make a positive difference. Council grants fund many of those collective enterprises.
“Congratulations to CubaDupa for creating such a magnificent celebration of Wellington’s communities and cultures, and
bravo to all the finalists and winners of the many categories. You all make a positive difference to our vibrant and
inclusive Capital.”
Steve Sanderson, CEO Wellington Airport, says: “We are proud to celebrate the contribution community groups volunteers
with the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards each year.
“Congratulations to all the winners from Wellington City especially Supreme Winner CubaDupa. We were impressed by the
many thousands of volunteer hours and the collaborative partnerships developed to bring this vibrant street festival to
life.”
Mark Cassidy, Chief Executive of Wellington Community Trust, says: “WCT has been involved with the awards for over 20
years and for the past 13 years with Wellington Airport.
“We commit $43,500 each year to be distributed to 30 organisations across our region some of whom we would not otherwise
be able to fund,” he says. “The number of nominations continues to climb each year and this year there was a record
number.
“The awards are one way we, The Wellington Community Trust, can say thank you for the extraordinary work staff and
volunteers contribute day in day out, building the richness and diversity in our community.”
Kava Club, another arts group, were awarded the Rising Star prize for their work with emerging Maori and Pasifika arts
practitioners, including their regular Chop Suey workshops.
The Wellington City Council has financially supported eight of the 12 winners and runners up through grants. Further
information about Council funding can be found here: wellington.govt.nz/services/community-and-culture/funding
Other category winners, runners-up and commended, were:
Arts & Culture
Winner: Cuba Dupa
Runner Up: Migrating Kitchen Trust
Education & Child / Youth Development
Winner: InsideOUT
Runner Up: LearnCoach
Health & Well-Being
Winner: Skylight Trust
Runner Up: Wellington Timebank
Heritage & Environment
Winner: Wellington Indian Association
Runner Up: Lilburn Residence Trust
Sport & Leisure
Winner: Brooklyn Trail Builders
Runner Up: Parafed
Rising Star
Winner: Kava Club
Runner Up: Ruck
SUPREME WINNER: Creative Capital Arts Trust - Cuba Dupa
Each category winner received $1,000 and runners-up $250 and the chance to go through to the regional finals on 20
September, when they will compete against category winners selected by four other councils in the region. The Wellington
awards attracted over 70 nominations from a wide range of local groups.
The full list of nominations can be found here: http://wellington.govt.nz/services/community-and-culture/volunteers/community-awards/2016-nominations
ENDS