Insight: An event quickly gaining national recognition
"We really do get meaningful satisfaction by bringing [ILT Kidzone] to the community every year.
Welcome to The Southland Tribune’s weekly column spot called “Insight”. This week Southland regional development agency Great South and its CEO Chami Abeysinghe provides an update what it has been up to in the event space.
One of our favourite times of the year is coming up early next month. Great South is often doing work on behalf of the region that isn’t seen locally but ILT Kidzone, between 5–10 July, is an event that brings the work we do home.
We really do get meaningful satisfaction by bringing this event to the community every year.
It’s for Southland families and is quickly gaining national recognition. The event even featured in this month’s Air NZ Kia Ora inflight magazine.
Events all over the country were particularly impacted by Covid and many of Southland’s destination events and smaller ones had to be cancelled.
We received Regional Events Funding from the Government which helped us to support the event sector and make a contestable fund to support existing events or provide help for new events to be created.
Over the past two years almost $700,000 has been distributed to events regionwide. The fund has also helped us give a marketing boost to existing events that attract visitors from outside of the region.
When the Bluff Oyster Festival was cancelled for the second year in a row, Great South stepped in to make sure there was something for the visitors to our region to attend, creating Taste Southland.
We have also created campaigns to showcase Southland Heritage Month and our summer wheel-based events.
Any event in Southland big or small can benefit from our promotional website southlandnz.com. We encourage everyone to list their event for free. It’s also the best place to find out what’s happening in our region, with our up-to-date Southland Events Calendar, which includes everything from workshops, networking events, exhibitions, and our well-loved annual offerings.
It’s here you can also sign up to receive our monthly newsletter – at southlandnz.com
Be sure to check out the calendar and get out and enjoy all our region has to offer!