Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts injected $44m into Wellington economy

Monday, 28 October 2024

The Light Cycles show, created by Canadian studio Moment Factory, is part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts and will light up the Botanic Garden throughout May and June.

This year’s Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts is estimated to have injected just shy of $44 million into Wellington’s economy – and a significant proportion of that money came from domestic and overseas tourists.

The latest iteration of the biennial festival brought in 56% more revenue than it did in 2018, a just-released report by economic research consultancy BERL found.

Among the nearly 150,000 people who experienced one or more of the festival’s 70-odd events were 34,000 visitors to the region. These out-of-towners spent an average of $200 to $300 per day during their stay, BERL’s analysis showed.

The total attendance exceeded 470,000. This included 68,000 tickets sold for paid shows, as well as 400,000 at free events.

Gravity and Grace was part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

Angela Green, executive director of Tāwhiri, the creative force behind the festival, said the report’s findings laid out the economic impact a thriving arts and culture scene could have on a city, which seemed to be underestimated at times.

“When [people] visit a festival show, they’re not just going to see a show; they’re going for dinner; they’re paying a babysitter … they’ll shop.”

Angela Green, the executive director of Tāwhiri, the creative force behind the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, pictured at this year’s festival.

However, dollars and ticket sales should not the be the only metrics used to assess the value of the arts, in her view.

“We talk about the arts being a piece of essential infrastructure as well. It's the infrastructure … of people's vibrancy and wellbeing in a city.

“Sometimes you can see that with incredible street art or things out on the street, and sometimes you feel it through the music or the dance that you're watching.”

The Light Cycles light show, by the award-winning Canadian multimedia studio Moment Factory, was held at the Botanic Garden as part of Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

The festival’s organisers were always considering how they could “shift things along or do things a little differently or innovate in some way” when putting together the programme, Green said.

This year one point of difference was the extension of the festival, which was held in February and March, further into autumn to include the popular Light Show at the Botanic Garden in May and June.

The report also explored the festival’s social impact. It quoted a survey in which 88% of respondents said it increased their pride in the city.

Almost everyone who participated in the poll, 97%, said the festival made Wellington a more enjoyable place to live.

Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Arcus was pleased the economic impact of the arts was being quantified in the report.

He said as well as bringing in new revenue streams, events like Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts could serve as “a giant marketing campaign for Wellington”.

“When someone comes here and they have a fantastic time, guess what they do when they go home? They tell their friends and relations: ‘It's so great to be there, I had such a good time, and the people [were] friendly’. All of that, of course, means people get intrigued, and they think, ‘Well, I better go and see see this place’ because people they trust have raved about it.”