Biggest ever crowds at World Buskers Festival

Media Release – January 26, 2003

Biggest ever crowds at World Buskers Festival

The World Buskers Festival ended in Christchurch today after attracted the biggest crowds in its 10-year history.

Festival director Jodi Wright said more than 190,000 watched the 11 day festival – an increase of 10,000 on last year.

``We had two rain affected days but we had 10,000 people at Brighton which was a new venue,’’ Ms Wright said today.

``The town has been buzzing. We had a bigger line up this year and the city has grown to really appreciate this festival of accessible world class entertainment.’’

Festival organisers counted heads at various shows to gauge overall festival attendance numbers.

``We estimated around 190,000 attended the shows,’’ Ms Wright said.

The CPIT (Christchurch Polytechnic Institute and Technology) festival broke all previous attendance records.

Around 180,000 people watched last year’s event. The growth in the event has been staggering after only 8000 people saw the first festival in 1994.
Crowd favourites were Blackstreet Boyz, Coexistence, Planet Banana and Skatenaked.

A post festival education expo featuring the CPIT’s school of circo arts and festival performers will be staged at the Christchurch Town Hall on January 28.

The Christchurch City Council core-funded festival is a leading event of its kind in Australasia which has been a major drawcard for overseas tourists and New Zealand holidaymakers.

Christchurch City Council’s annual resident survey in March found the Buskers event one of the most popular among the city’s people.

Ends

Media advisory: For further information, please contact Jodi Wright, World Buskers Festival organiser Ph: 03 377 2365 or 021 679 542

Kip Brook, Word of Mouth Media NZ Ph: 03 374 5426

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