Artists, performers, musicians, retailers and hospitality operators will come together on Friday night to take over downtown Timaru for the inaugural Ignite Timaru First Friday event.
The first of two proposed Friday night events, the trial is part of CityTown, a council project dedicated to “reimagining and regenerating the city centre” with a budget of $34.6m.
The first Fridays in November and December will see “a vibrant pulse of night-life” in the city centre, said Ignite Timaru event coordinator, theatre director Kimble Henderson.
“From each end of Stafford St, there will be creatives filling the streets,” she said.
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“There will also be exhibitions in various blank spaces around the city, a pop-up stage on George St, and a kidzone.”
From jugglers to punk bands, theatre performances and pop up art galleries, four areas of the Timaru CBD – Creative Spark North, Creative Spark Central, George St Green Space and Creative Spark South – will host a variety of activities, exhibitions and performances from 5 to 9pm on Friday, November 4, and Friday, December 2.
“It’s a chance to connect with each other and support one another to create something bigger than ourselves,” Henderson said.
Business owners are encouraged to extend hours and host events, with some food and retail outlets staying open later than usual.
AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff
Ignite Timaru First Fridays are one of a number of trials to be rolled out as part of the Timaru District Council’s $34.6m CityTown project (File photo).
Henderson and fellow organisers, photographer Maania Tealei, Aighantighe Gallery exhibition curator Hamish Pettengell, and Timaru artist Mike Armstrong, have been working on the event for several months in conjunction with creative agency Gap Filler.
Henderson said the response from Timaru’s creative and business communities had been overwhelming.
There are 68 artists, performers, exhibitors and businesses involved in Friday’s inaugural First Friday, and organisers expected to have more registered for the second trial event in December, Tealei said.
“We had a very short registration period, just because of the lead in time, and needing to have the programme finalised didn’t leave much time, so people may have missed out, but we have the second date, and we’re hoping those who didn’t make it to the first one will register for the next date.”
Henderson said the original concept was to bring arts and culture into the city centre, and explore what that could do for the central business district.
“Our questions became, how can we connect with business? How can we support each other? And the ultimate question is, if we work together, will that bring people in?
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Theatre director Kimble Henderson wants to see “life and vibrancy” brought back to Timaru’s city centre.
“We’ve got to have a more solutions-focused outlook on our community, and instead of always complaining about the same thing, this is an opportunity to move things forward.”
Business owners jumped on board the project as soon as she explained the goal was to bring life and vibrancy back to the city centre, Henderson said.
She said businesses from the south end of Stafford St are taking part, despite some saying they sometimes feel left out of events held at the other end of town.
“We’ve got Newmans MusicWorks with a saxophonist playing there, the Christian Superstore will have music and craft activities, You’re the Bomb is holding a workshop, and The Portal, a chill out and all ages electronic music zone.”
She said the trial format allows them to measure the success of the event, gather feedback, and examine which aspects work best before deciding what ideas might be carried forward into a more permanent fixture.
“It could definitely be a regular thing, it just depends on what that could look like. We need to find out where people are interested in getting involved, because the community needs to embrace it to help make it happen.”
AIMAN AMERUL MUNER/Stuff
A giant tetherball game being constructed under the Strathallan Bridge is another of the “bite-sized recreation” trials offered as part of the $34.6m CityTown strategy (File photo).
The event is one of a number of trials proposed in the council’s CityTown strategy, prepared by design and urban planning agency Isthmus Group, the Timaru council and Gap Filler.
Trials so far include the temporary installation of a stage at Strathallan Corner, and the Codebreakers outdoor escape room game, a table tennis table at Heritage Place outside the Speights Ale House, a giant tetherball game under the Strathallan Overbridge and an interactive beach scene outside Soul, Surf and Skate on Stafford St.
Other proposed trials range from allowing dogs in the city centre to using rates rebates to encourage the use of empty properties in the central city.
Council says the purpose of the trials is “to test different concepts within the community in real-time before committing large amounts of funding towards any permanent or physical changes in the Timaru city centre.”
