Media Release 

For immediate release                         13 July 2020

‘Stacked Kawerau’ a community collaboration

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic this year have inspired a new community-driven event in Kawerau. 

‘Stacked Kawerau’ is a collaboration between the National Woodskills Trust, Kawerau Arts Society and the Eastern Bay of Plenty Fibre and Fleece.

The two-day exhibition will be hosted in the Kawerau Town Hall and Concert Chambers on September 25 and 26, 2020.

The event is free for the public to enter and will be open from 9am until 6pm. It will showcase a range of creative skills and recognise the 30th Anniversary of the National Woodskills Competition.

Recognition of the sponsors, exhibitors, volunteers and former committee members of the National Woodskills Trust will be made at an official function to celebrate the 30th anniversary on Friday night before it opens to the public the following day.

There has already been considerable interest from people within the Kawerau District to exhibit work and this be across a range of disciplines.

The impact of COVID-19 had meant that the competition that is usually run as part of the National Woodskills event would be replaced by an exhibition that would be widened to other creative arts.

Meanwhile, all the outdoor events and activities that are usually run as part of the Kawerau WoodFest which runs in conjunction with the National Woodskills have been cancelled for 2020.

This decision was made following consultation with WoodFest stakeholders during the various COVID-19 levels and after a workshop with the Kawerau District Council recently.

The decision to cancel the 2020 Kawerau WoodFest was not taken lightly, but the impact from a lack of external funding due to the COVID-19 lockdown was a major factor.

In addition, the Council’s events team were redeployed into Civil Defence Emergency Management roles for the duration of the COVID-19 response. As the emergency response was only lifted when the country moved to Level 1, this left little time to plan and organise the Kawerau WoodFest event which is run in September.

The elected members sanctioned the decision to cancel the 2020 Kawerau WoodFest rather than risk damaging the reputation of the event by downscaling it considerably.

Council would now look to start discussions with stakeholders about the future plans for Kawerau WoodFest in 2021.

For more information about the ‘Stacked Kawerau’ event which is celebrating 30 years of Woodskills please visit www.nationalwoodskills.co.nz

[ENDS] 

For more information, please contact:  
Tania Humberstone,
Communications Manager,
Kawerau District Council
Phone 027 464 378