Inaugural Waitangi Celebration takes place at the Waterwheel Heritage Park
After the outstanding success of the Official Launch of the giant Waterwheel in Kawerau on Queens Birthday weekend last year, the Waterwheel Historic Trust is pleased to be holding its first summer event. The Waitangi Celebration Country Fair will coincide with the weekend of National celebrations for Waitangi Day and the Waterwheel Heritage Park in Spencer Ave, Kawerau; will once again come alive with a wide range of attractions to keep all members of the family entertained.
The gates will open at 10am and entry will be by a gold coin donation, all the proceeds will go towards the ongoing plans and development of the Heritage Park. The Trust has consistently had a vision of providing work and educational opportunities for the community and this is evident with the numerous numbers of people positively gaining from the Trusts ongoing projects. At present the Trust in collaboration with KEA and the Metaltech Charitable Trust are undergoing a Community Max project, which provides employment for a number of local people, the work undertaken is restoring collectable historical items from our agricultural past and ongoing development of the park site.
The Waitangi Celebration Country Fair on Saturday 5th February will be an annual event to be held in Kawerau and aims to attract many members of the local and surrounding community to experience everything which the Waterwheel Historic Trust has to offer. There is a passionate group of enthusiasts preserving donated items of local agricultural interest and ensuring the collectable items are restored to working order so that everybody can enjoy their former glory.
Founder of the Waterwheel Trust, Stan Fretwell will be on hand making sure his incredibly built six metre diameter Waterwheel will be fully operational for the day, which alone is a treat in itself worth seeing. There will be plenty of other activities happening during the day with kid’s entertainment, live music, arts and craft demonstrations. There will even be live sheep shearing demonstrations and some hungry looking alpacas on site and one or two other surprises of the four legged kind!
There will also be the ‘Dirty Hands & Green Fingers Competition’ which will give the opportunity for all budding gardeners & growers to bring to the Fair their best looking produce, there will also be the most fantastic scarecrow competition for families to enter into and even a funniest looking vegetable category. Potential entrants can get the full list of categories from KEA, Kawerau Information Centre, Kawerau District council website or download our Entry Form here.
The Heritage Park site on Spencer Avenue is a beautiful area of interest as the Tarawera meanders around the oxbow with the stunning backdrop of Mt. Edgecumbe. The Country Fair will bring about a celebration of our agricultural and industrial heritage and most importantly the people who made it possible and are still ensuring it is possible for the next generations of the community to enjoy.
The Waterwheel Trust is always on the lookout for new volunteers to get involved on all the various projects they are completing and there is always a big call out for assistance at the events, especially if anybody has a special interest or skill they would like to share at one of these unique events.
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