Lights on Bikes and Drews Ave Street Party wins outstanding event
Published on 12 December 2022
Whanganui’s winter celebration and light parade, Lights on Bikes and Drews Ave Street Party 2021, scored the outstanding event award at the New Zealand Recreation Awards 2022.
Lights on Bikes celebrates lit-up bikes, skateboards, prams, wheelchairs and other wheeled contraptions which travel from Drews Avenue, through Pākaitore Moutoa Gardens, along the Whanganui River and back. The cycle route includes a range of illuminated displays by local artists, projections on buildings, a lit-up tram and roving performers. Local musicians and bands were centred at the hub of the street party and a band performed from a balcony. Workshops to make illuminated costumes for people and their bikes were held at the Sarjeant Gallery leading up to the event.
Likes on Bikes organiser Shanti Sibbing (pictured, right) from Elevate Events, was delighted about the 1000 plus people who turned out for the festival.
“It was fantastic to see so many people participating and enjoying all the different aspects of the event. I’m really looking forward to working with this space again at next year’s event.”
Recreation Aotearoa CEO, Andrew Leslie, says it is great to see initiatives like Lights on Bikes and the Drews Ave Street Party getting people out and about, recreating and engaging with community spaces in different ways.
“Whanganui District Council has illuminated a pathway for community activation and engagement in the local area. It was an honour to be able to, at a national level, acknowledge the council, its partners, and the community with these awards,” says Andrew Leslie.
Lights on Bikes has run since 2018. The 2021 event was an opportunity to showcase the opening of the Drews Avenue project, co-designed by businesses, Iwi, building owners, artists and residents operating in the street.
The upgraded streetscape, funded through Waka Kotahi’s Innovating Streets programme, features communal outdoor seating surrounded by lush plantings, bike racks, a retro telephone handset and games for locals and visitors to enjoy. The street itself was beautified thanks to an on-road mural created by local artists Cecelia Kumeroa and Jodi Clark. The Drews Avenue project was also awarded a merit award at the recreation awards.
The Lights on Bikes event and the upgraded streetscape was a team effort, led by Shanti Sibbing and former Town Centre Activation Officer Ellen Young and supported by Waka Kotahi’s Innovating Streets and council staff, as well as a host of local organisations.
Recreation Aotearoa advocates for high-quality recreation and represents all professionals in the industry for an active, healthy and connected New Zealand. The awards celebrate the ‘best and brightest’ in New Zealand’s recreational industry and were held in Nelson on Thursday, 24 November.