A “generous” boost for the Ōamaru Victorian Heritage Celebrations means organisers can do things a bit differently this year.

Victorian Heritage Celebrations committee chairperson Ruth MacEachern said a substantial Regional Events Fund grant was for attracting more visitors from outside the Waitaki district. 

“So we can look into different events that we have never been able to try before. We can try new approaches,” she said. 

Before making final decisions on how to use the money, Ruth said the committee was hoping to get more people to join. 

“We’re actually looking to attract more people . . . who have an experience, or at least an understanding of hospitality or tourism and can advise on how we could use it best.” 

Committee members seemed to so far have been “shoulder-tapped” by other committee members, but she was sure there was talent yet to be uncovered in the town.

“Right now we have a number of people on the committee who are really good at running events, and we have a lot of associated groups who are good at running events, so what we’re looking for is more people that think about the bigger picture in terms of ‘what do the celebrations do for Ōamaru’, ‘who do we work with’, and ‘how do we work with them to get benefit year-round, etc, etc,” she said.

She would love some younger members, and a wider variety of ethnicities. 

“We’ve really got to diversify our membership.”

The theme for this year’s celebrations was Migration Stories, which Ruth thought provided scope for some fascinating stories to come out of the woodwork. 

“So it’s about people moving - going from one place to another, and usually in search of something better, and that includes within New Zealand.”

The celebrations were “iconic” for Ōamaru, and footage of the event was commonly used for promotion of the region.

Belonging to the committee provided a “real sense of accomplishment” for participating in such a well-known event, she said.

“I kind of get a sense of doing something worthwhile, and being part of something that’s quite cool and iconic, and meeting wonderful people.

“It’s really exciting to pull together a programme and explore ideas, and then actually see it come to fruition.”

With the grant, and careful management of funds over the last three years, the committee was in quite good shape, financially, and also “organisationally”, Ruth said

“What we need more of though, as I said, is people who look at the bigger picture, and people who are strong communicators.”

The programme for the November event had usually come together by the end of June, and after that most of the work, before celebration week, was getting the word out. 

“It is social media, it is newsletters, it is promoting the individual events, deciding on advertising campaigns, and marketing strategies, and so forth. So that’s where we really need people.”

The committee was all volunteers, but there were still defined roles, so it was clear who did what. None of the roles were particularly onerous, it was more so people knew what was expected of them, Ruth said.

“People tend to be modest, and feel they don’t have much to offer. I feel that there is a role for anyone interested. All we ask is that they do what they said they would do.”

The committee met every two to four weeks for just over an hour. Between meetings there was usually follow-up work to be carried out, as agreed.

Anyone interested in joining the committee was welcome to join a meeting to see how it operated, Ruth said.

“We also welcome suggestions for events or performers to expand this year’s programme.”

Ruth MacEachern could be contacted by email: [email protected]

Dressing in Victorian garb is synonymous with the Ōamaru Victorian Heritage Celebrations. Celebrations committee chairperson Ruth MacEachern is pictured on the right. PHOTO: Supplied