Sesqui 1990
Encyclopedia
Sesqui 1990 was a festival
that was staged in February 1990 in the city of Wellington
, New Zealand
. A spectacular commercial and administrative failure
, the Sesqui event has subsequently become an icon of corporate mismanagement within New Zealand popular culture
.
of the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi
. The event was a joint venture between the Wellington Show Association and the Wellington 1990 Trust, a well-funded regional organisation. The Wellington regional and city councils jointly underwrote this event by NZ$1.4 million.
The Sesqui festival was planned to include a wide range of cultural, trade
and scientific exhibits as well as entertainment
events and funfair
amusements. It was scheduled to run for six weeks and anticipated to attract 30,000 visitors per day, despite the fact that the population of the entire Wellington region at that time was fewer than 400,000 people.
Several weeks before the festival was due to begin, the media reported that the Sesqui organisers had decided to stage their opening celebration simultaneously with the opening celebrations of the 1990 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. Neither the Sesqui organisers nor the Arts Festival organisers were prepared to alter their plans.
launched Day 1 of Sesqui 1990.
The festival organisers had made a decision to split the event between two venues, one at the Wellington Waterfront and the other at the (then) Wellington Show and Sports Centre in Newtown
. Despite the arrangement of a shuttle bus service between these two venues, this decision had the effect of confusing and frustrating potential visitors to the festival, with the result that neither venue attracted visitor numbers beyond an average of 2,500 per day.
The organisers had also adopted a policy against advertising the daily schedules for musical and other performances taking place at either venue. This policy was based on the assumption that it would encourage visitors to prolong their stay and to make numerous return visits so as not to miss seeing favourite performers. As a result, a number of popular musicians, singers and other entertainers played to largely empty houses because the public did not know when or where they were performing.
Within days of the opening of the festival, media reports began to suggest that it was faltering. During a radio interview, Wellington City Councillor Ruth Gottlieb maintained that it was "every Wellingtonian's civic duty to attend Sesqui."
The highest attendance figure was achieved during the final days of the event, when 32,000 visitors took advantage of a decision to waive all entry fees, which were widely regarded as being excessive.
Although planned to run for six weeks, Sesqui 1990 closed after only two weeks with debts in excess of NZ$6.4 million.
.
Two iconic billboards promoting Sesqui 1990 remained standing for a number of months after the event's premature closure, apparently because the organisers could not afford to have them removed. One of these, featuring an image of gleeful Sesqui visitors, was quickly defaced with graffiti
reading "And I laughed and laughed and laughed". The other billboard, a plywood cut-out representing Sesqui mascot "Pesky Sesky" – a sort of anthropomorphic opossum, or possibly sasquatch
– had been erected on a rooftop to welcome visitors to the Show and Sports Centre venue, and eventually disappeared during a wind storm.
Other sesquicentenary events fared better, including the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
, which went went on to have a life of its own.
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
that was staged in February 1990 in the city of Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. A spectacular commercial and administrative failure
Failure
Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the product to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to personal injury, the province of forensic...
, the Sesqui event has subsequently become an icon of corporate mismanagement within New Zealand popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
.
History
Billed by promoters as 'New Zealand's biggest event ever', the festival was staged in Wellington to mark the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations, the 150th anniversaryAnniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
of the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....
. The event was a joint venture between the Wellington Show Association and the Wellington 1990 Trust, a well-funded regional organisation. The Wellington regional and city councils jointly underwrote this event by NZ$1.4 million.
The Sesqui festival was planned to include a wide range of cultural, trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
and scientific exhibits as well as entertainment
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
events and funfair
Funfair
A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...
amusements. It was scheduled to run for six weeks and anticipated to attract 30,000 visitors per day, despite the fact that the population of the entire Wellington region at that time was fewer than 400,000 people.
Several weeks before the festival was due to begin, the media reported that the Sesqui organisers had decided to stage their opening celebration simultaneously with the opening celebrations of the 1990 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. Neither the Sesqui organisers nor the Arts Festival organisers were prepared to alter their plans.
The event
NZ$150,000 worth of fireworksFireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
launched Day 1 of Sesqui 1990.
The festival organisers had made a decision to split the event between two venues, one at the Wellington Waterfront and the other at the (then) Wellington Show and Sports Centre in Newtown
Newtown, New Zealand
The suburb of Newtown lies in the southern part of Wellington in New Zealand. The population at the last census was recorded as 8,409.The suburb lies east of Vogeltown, between Mount Cook and Berhampore...
. Despite the arrangement of a shuttle bus service between these two venues, this decision had the effect of confusing and frustrating potential visitors to the festival, with the result that neither venue attracted visitor numbers beyond an average of 2,500 per day.
The organisers had also adopted a policy against advertising the daily schedules for musical and other performances taking place at either venue. This policy was based on the assumption that it would encourage visitors to prolong their stay and to make numerous return visits so as not to miss seeing favourite performers. As a result, a number of popular musicians, singers and other entertainers played to largely empty houses because the public did not know when or where they were performing.
Within days of the opening of the festival, media reports began to suggest that it was faltering. During a radio interview, Wellington City Councillor Ruth Gottlieb maintained that it was "every Wellingtonian's civic duty to attend Sesqui."
The highest attendance figure was achieved during the final days of the event, when 32,000 visitors took advantage of a decision to waive all entry fees, which were widely regarded as being excessive.
Although planned to run for six weeks, Sesqui 1990 closed after only two weeks with debts in excess of NZ$6.4 million.
Aftermath
The collapse of the Sesqui 1990 festival forced a number of small companies that had been contracted to supply various goods and services to the event into receivership and/or bankruptcyBankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
.
Two iconic billboards promoting Sesqui 1990 remained standing for a number of months after the event's premature closure, apparently because the organisers could not afford to have them removed. One of these, featuring an image of gleeful Sesqui visitors, was quickly defaced with graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
reading "And I laughed and laughed and laughed". The other billboard, a plywood cut-out representing Sesqui mascot "Pesky Sesky" – a sort of anthropomorphic opossum, or possibly sasquatch
Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
– had been erected on a rooftop to welcome visitors to the Show and Sports Centre venue, and eventually disappeared during a wind storm.
Other sesquicentenary events fared better, including the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since its inception representing a wide...
, which went went on to have a life of its own.
External links
- Defaced banners advertising the failed Sesqui Carnival - Photographs taken by John Nicholson
- http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz/logicrouter/servlet/LogicRouter?PAGE=object&OUTPUTXSL=object.xslt&pm_RC=REPO02DB&pm_OI=64611&pm_GT=Y&pm_IAC=Y&api_1=GET_OBJECT_XML&num_result=0&Object_Layout=viewimage_object