The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo wins NZ public hearts

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo wins NZ public hearts

August 5

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has won New Zealand’s favourite event of the year, voted by the public, at the New Zealand event awards in Auckland last night.

The NZ favourite event category was decided by a nationwide public poll in partnership withEventfinda.co.nz – the online guide to events in New Zealand. The Wellington show was a co-production between the New Zealand Festival and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland.

More than six years in the planning, the 2016 Wellington performance was a huge logistical, financial and technical challenge. Once the bid for the event was secured, organisers the New Zealand Festival organisers began working closely with the Tattoo team in Edinburgh to create a distinct major event offering for New Zealand.

New Zealand’s version in February included a cast of 1287 performers from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Tonga, Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. The event took place over four performances and attracted over 84,000 attendees from New Zealand and around the world, making it the biggest show ever staged in Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.

NZAEP chief executive Vicki Watson says the four-day event contributed considerably to the regional economy and was truly complex and challenging in its organisation requiring significant skill from the event professionals managing it.

“Organisers wanted to deliver a world-class major event that delighted audiences. An overwhelming 98 percent of attendees rated the event positively. It received significant critical and audience acclaim.”

A full-scale replica façade of Edinburgh Castle was constructed over five days, creating a dramatic backdrop for the action on the field. See a time lapse of the Wellington castle construction:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfaLHwemwQ8.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo also beat off the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and the inaugural Crankworx mountain bike event in Rotorua to win the best hosted major NZ event of the year.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was created in Edinburgh, Scotland 66 years ago. It has become a spectacle of military precision, showcasing display, music and dance by both military and cultural performers. Today, it’s been described as the greatest show on earth featuring hundreds of performers, and just over 217,000 people see the Tattoo live on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle each year.

The judging panel included Tourism NZ chief executive Kevin Bowler, Creative NZ chief executive Stephen Wainwright, NZ Media and Entertainment chief executive Michael Boggs, Eventfinda chief executive James McGlinn and head of NZ Operations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Dame Therese Walsh.

NZAEP was set up 10 years ago to advocate for the burgeoning events sector in New Zealand. The annual awards aim to establish excellence in benchmarking the industry judging not just what the event is, but how it was run.

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