Wednesday 16 February 2011

ROTORUA 16.02.11: Locals and visitors to Rotorua can expect to see plenty of entertainment in the streets during the city’s Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011) celebrations thanks to a series of free workshops being offered to the community.

The ‘Rotorua Entertains’ project is being coordinated by Rotorua District Council with support from Rotorua Trust. It will provide local people with the skills to play entertaining roles in RWC 2011 festivities.

Events & Venues Rotorua event manager Martin Croft says there will be an array of fun and creative classes to choose from, including stilt walking, juggling, face painting, balloon sculpturing, drumming and salsa dancing.

“We expect the workshops to be very popular so it’s important that people book early as numbers are limited.

“Everyone involved in the project will get the opportunity to show off their talents to the community and the many thousands of visitors expected to visit Rotorua during the seven week long tournament. Who knows, it might even be the start of a new career!”

Mr Croft says some of the events participants can look forward to being involved with include the official Fanzone, CBD match day celebrations, street parties and team welcomes.

Workshops begin this month and will occur regularly until the start of RWC 2011, starting with a face painting workshop on 23 February at Rotorua Arts Village Experience (RAVE). Stilt walking workshops will begin on 2 April at RAVE.

Locals can register their interest by sending an email to rotoruaentertains@rdc.govtnz . For online information people can visit www.eventsandvenues.co.nz/rotoruaentertains or check out ‘Rotorua Entertains’ on Facebook to find out about upcoming workshops and to view photos of previous workshops and events.

Mr Croft says organisers hope to create a database of people who they can call on not only for Rugby World Cup 2011 but for other major events, including arts festivals, sporting events and CBD street parades.

ENDS

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