The Festival of Colour is a month away and tickets are selling fast, but this year organisers are giving people the option to anonymously pay for someone else’s ticket.
In collaboration with Community Link Wanaka, the festival has added a pop-up in their point-of-sale system allowing people to donate as much as they wish to someone who would otherwise not be able to attend any of the events due to the cost.
The donations would go straight to Community Link which would pay it forward randomly to one of their clients.
Community Link manager Kate Murray said it was important to give clients different types of assistance, including the chance to immerse themselves in art and culture.
‘‘It’s not just about the show itself — it’s about offering people moments of fun, connection and belonging.’’
Festival of Colour executive director Ruth Heath said the initiative came from the need to support a community that has long been the home of a unique festival.
‘‘I just saw a really nice opportunity to be able to do that and we have a huge number of generous donors from our community who support the festival.
‘‘Ultimately, we want to be providing amazing festival experiences to our community and there’s definitely a section of our community who wouldn’t consider doing that because they can’t afford to.’’
The initiative also comes at a time when ticket prices have risen slightly, to help cover increased festival costs.
‘‘We’ve got such huge overheads to make our festival happen, especially you know like bringing our Crystal Palace down and freight ... Costs and freight are humongous,’’ Ms Heath said.
Paying it forward was a ‘‘triple win’’ because donors could do something good for their community, the festival would get some revenue and locals who would not usually afford tickets could attend events.
