An organiser of Dunedin’s Midwinter Carnival has hit back at critics of it becoming a ticketed event and its move from the Octagon, asking "what planet are people on?".
The annual event has traditionally been held in the Octagon with no entry cost.
However, this year it has moved to First Church and a $5 ticket price has been introduced.
Response to the news has been mixed — some say they understand the need for a fee and are looking forward to the event, while others say the changes have put them off.
One person said the move made coming to the festival impossible as a single mother on a low income.
In a Facebook post about the event, Dunedin Midwinter Celebrations Trust chairman Paul Smith said it had been "getting quite a bit of flack" about the shift.
With people upset over a $5 ticket for an event with "multiple large-scale projections, multiple lantern installations, live dance, music and aerial performance", he asked, "what planet are people on?".
When spoken to yesterday, Mr Smith said he was not surprised some people were upset.
The event had been free for so long that people had become used to it, he said.
"A lot of people still don’t understand it’s a non-profit charity that runs it.
"Different people have different views and that’s OK ... We’re happy to stand by what we’re doing."
The trust had not had enough donations in the past and introducing a $5 fee was required for the event to work this year.
"It’s nice to have things for free, but we don’t have enough funding for that."
The trust worked year-round to raise funds, but it still was not enough to cover basic expenses.
As a non-profit organisation it faced a variety of challenges, such as housing lanterns and paying employees.
The event was costing $250,000 to run this year and trustees had a "huge responsibility" to make it work.
The trust had not made any decisions for the future and would review everything after the event.
Last week, Mr Smith said the Octagon had too many points of entry and the carnival had to move to facilitate ticketing.
An online petition has been created asking for the carnival to return to the Octagon and remain free with funding from the Dunedin City Council, but has so far only received about 30 signatures.
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Comments
Free entry with a community service card? People can also have the option of paying Koha above the $5 fee if they choose. No person, demographic or group should be excluded form enjoying and sharing this event and $5 for a single to probably 15-30 per family IS significant if you are low income.
Anyone wanting to attend the festival without having to pay need simply to step up and help with one of the many many tasks performed by volunteers. These events don't happen without enormous amounts of (mostly unpaid) work that starts long before the day starts and ends long after the night is over. If supervising the braziers, arranging the food trucks, or picking up the rubbish after everyone else has gone home is too much to ask, then perhaps $5 is OK after all?