FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21 September, 2005
Opening week of Kauri Festival draws crowds
The opening week of the Northland Kauri Festival has seen a number of events draw crowds of people to celebrate kauri
around Northland.
Several events ran this past week making the most of opportunities to honour and celebrate one of Northland’s great
icons – the kauri tree. Reactions from organisers and festival goers anticipate the Northland Kauri Festival to continue
as an annual celebration.
The festival kicked off on Saturday with nearly one hundred people participating in an evening of trivia and prizes at
the Copthorne Hokianga. Eleven teams were put to the test as part of the Northland Festival Kauri Quiz Night with
questions about kauri and Northland. The winning team took away the esteemed Kauri Quiz Trophy and a $500 donation which
will go towards the Rawene Hospital.
Celebrations continued on Sunday with ‘Kohukohu Kauri Town’, a guided tour around the historic sites and kauri buildings
of Kohukohu. Despite the wet weather the event had a sell out crowd, with a waiting list of people wanting to take part.
Event organiser Pauline Evans commented “We’re really pleased with the enthusiasm around the festival, our event has not
only local people involved, but we had several people from around Northland who came to be part of the experience”.
The Labyrinth Woodworks and Maze in Waimamaku hosted a preview gathering of their exhibition “Art Kauri”. The
festivities included kauri plantings in the native tree ‘maze’, a bbq and songs throughout the afternoon.
Entries for the Kauri Museum Photo Competition are being judged this week. Kauri Museum director Albert Lovell commented
that the judges are faced with some difficult choices viewing the more than 65 entries. All photos that were submitted
to the competition will be on display at the Kauri Museum until mid October.
A large window display at Whitcoulls in Whangarei has been set up to promote the Kauri Festival. The exhibit was
produced with the help of Natural Wood Creations and volunteers from The Kauri Museum. Whitcoulls store manager Steve
Hay is very impressed with the display and added that the display is an ‘attention grabber’ for those walking by, and a
great way to spread the word of the celebrations.
This week the festival has several kauri themed exhibitions opening around the region. There are also a number of guided
tours and free trails available during the next two weeks to experience not only the living kauri trees, but also
historic sites where kauri once stood.
Other key events include a talk by renowned botanist Graeme Platt at the Whangarei Museum and Heritage Park on Thursday
22nd 7pm to speak about the “NZ kauri and its place in Gondwanaland”. Also mark your calendar for Saturday 24th, 1pm for
the Dargaville Kauri Fest Street parade.
Visit www.northlandnz.com for more information about event listings.
ENDS