Gisborne
The First Light Millennium parties on the islands!!!
ODYSSEY'S END FIRST LIGHT TRIATHLON AND SUMMER FESTIVAL OF SPORT
New Year's Day may seem a strange day to rage a gruelling triathlon, but
there are hundreds of athletes out there who beg to differ. Already the event is
attracting the cream of the crop of New Zealand and international triathletes,
and race director Terry Sheldrake is looking forward to a field of 2000 for the
Year 2000. As part of the build up to the world's first triathlon there are 5-km
road races for both men and women, a cycle criterium and a 1500-metre sea swim
from Midway Beach to Waikanae Beach.
ODYSSEY'S END
Club Odyssey's End are planning a members-only New Year's Eve party for
60,000 people from all over the world. While much of the celebrations will be
for members only, there are still many other events open to everyone, including
a Mardi Gras parade through the streets of the city, a sunset ceremony and an
evening of entertainment from international acts. Also in the planning is a huge
fireworks and laser light show from barges on the waters of Poverty Bay. The
last sun set of 1999 will be drummed out by musicians from world-wide cultures,
and the new millennium drummed in when the first rays bounce their way into the
bay. A nine-month long Year 2000 Trade Fair will be launched in the new year.
SERVANT 2000
A global gathering of up to 20,000 Christians are expected to take part in
the "first Christian service of the new millennium". The service will
be the high point of the 10-day family-orientated rally, which will include a
concert, a number of inspirational international speakers and a daily
district-wide clean-up campaign. Servant 2000 focuses on taking the church out
of the building and into the people, a theme organisers hope will be carried on
into the new millennium.
PACIFIC TALL SHIPS 2000
With the most recognised ships in Australasia already entered in the Pacific
Tall Ships Festival 2000, international interest is high for the event which
will take graceful beauties from bygone days into the ports of Auckland,
Tauranga, Gisborne, Napier and Wellington. The Endeavour replica will lead a
large fleet of tall ships into the very waters that Captain Cook first
discovered New Zealand. A flotilla of ships will also be at the international
date-line less than 100 -miles due east from Gisborne, to greet the new
millennium. The festival will coincide with the America's Cup Series being held
in late January in Auckland.
TE RUNANGA O TURANGANUI A KIWA
Te Runanga o Turanganui a Kiwa has city wide celebrations planned for the
year 2000
ECO 2000
eco2000 aims to have the rest of the world understand New Zealand's efforts
to earn its clean, green image. Conceptualist Joan Pollock looked to marry
sustainable land use and other millennium celebrations when planning eco2000.
Symposiums covering all land use from agriculture to horticulture, through to
forestry, will be held monthly from February to November in the Year 2000, with
the main feature held in the last month, probing the future of New Zealand's
land in 20 years time.
OPERA FESTIVAL
Held every three years, the Gisborne Opera Festival presents a memorable week
of opera and the arts in general, together with Maori cultural events, wine
trails, garden visits and other attractions. It draws together both European and
Maori cultures in a unique festival that shows the diversity of the district's
distinguished land-based heritage. It is hoped that for the Year 2000 festival,
there will be some personal involvement from patron Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
PEPSI FIRST LIGHT FESTIVAL
Already the Pepsi First Light Festival is attracting more than 40,000 people
to the East Coast each year between Christmas and the end of January-that figure
is expected to explode to more than 100,000 in the coming years. The umbrella
festival covers around 40 events, including the Pultron 2000 Windsurfing
Classic, the Lucozade Beach Volleyball New Zealand
Open, the Gisborne stampede, surf life saving events and many others.
CITY-WIDE CELEBRATIONS
Gisborne city will have festivals and celebrations commencing now and leading
up to and beyond the Year 2000. Throughout the millennium year Gisborne will
have theme months providing activity and entertainment for visitors from around
the world. To celebrate the end of the old and the beginning of the new,
Gisborne will be hosting the celebration of the millennium.
SOUTH PACIFIC MILLENNIUM CONSORTIUM
A united effort by the South Pacific Nations to jointly market and promote
the area as the destination for the new millennium traveller. A pool of
countries and islands along the international dateline including Tonga, Western
Samoa, Fiji and Gisborne are working together to ensure the world's focus is on
the South Pacific for the Year 2000 celebrations.
NGATI POROU CELEBRATIONS 2000
Te Runanga o Ngati Porou and C2000 Ltd have organised a festival of
activities including sporting fixtures, fishing, talent quests, 4 wheel driving
to Mount Hikurangi and various others. The emphasis being the hospitality of the
coast and it's people.
| 
