Botany Town Centre official Hand-Over To be a multi-cultural celebration
News Release 24 April 2001
Botany Town Centre official Hand-Over To be a multi - cultural celebration
On May 3 at 09.00am, the official hand-over of the new $180 million Botany Town Centre to AMP Henderson Global Investors
Ltd will be followed by a ten - day multi-cultural carnival for shoppers and the local community.
Botany Town Centre spokesperson, Julie Barber, said hand-over celebrations, from construction company Mainzeal New
Zealand, to the developers would feature more than 2,000 entertainers.
“The theme of the hand-over celebrations will be ‘Celebrate Your World’. When we set out to build Botany Town Centre the
local community asked for a place where locals could meet and celebrate their cultures – and the hand-over will certain
reflect Botany Town Centre’s role as the heart of a culturally rich region.
Shoppers will be able to experience street parades, precinct based entertainment, major entertainers in the town square,
retailer in-store promotions, children’s rides, face painting, international street theatre, street performers and a
raft of kids entertainment.
“We will have magicians, buskers and a diverse range of music to represent the various cultures. There will also be
jazz, and music from top New Zealand bands such as Betchdupa and Tadpole brought to the centre in conjunction with
Sounds NZ. A number of professional entertainers will ensure a variety of high quality performances.”
At least 30% of the entertainers working over the three days had been drawn from the local community – from a local
Petanque group to choirs and community dance groups.
Hypnotist and a founding pupil of Pakuranga College, Guy Kato, will perform with Sombe Lee, the only Cantonese hypnotist
in the world.
On Saturday May 5 there will be two big parades to celebrate the multi-ethnic flavour of Auckland. The parades will be
more than people walking with flags representing various nationalities – each person in the parade will be a performer.
Botany Town Centre is organised like a local community with its own lanes, park areas, a Town Square, Conservatory and
Market Square. The first New Zealand retail centre based on a High Street community design, Botany Town Centre currently
has 12 large format stores open.
More than 100 specialty stores, cafes, entertainment facilities and offices will begin trading at the time of the
hand-over – with more to come at the opening later this year.
AMP Henderson Global Investors Ltd is the developer of Botany Town Centre.
Ends