Want a stall? - Perform at the Festival - Support it
A huge thanks for an amazing 2012 event
The Sustainable Living Trust Team
4530 people at Te Manawa on the day. 
A huge thanks to all the amazing people that made this event happen or came to visit. The support for this event has just been fantastic. Thanks Palmerston North community, thanks exhibitors, thanks artists, thanks PNCC and all other sponsors, thanks More FM, thanks Te Manawa & the City Library thanks to all the other people that supported the event behind the scenes. It has been amazing!!!
Please take a minute to give us your feedback about the event (below)!
If you have missed the event stay tuned. A one hour documentary will be on TV shortly. When and where will be posted on our Facebook page very soon and you can already check out the first pictures of the event. “LIKE US” now to stay in the loop!
Thanks, the Sustainable Living Trust Team
Pictures 2012
The Manawatu’s Harvest Festival Team: (left to right) Stewart Harrex (trustee), Charles Andrews (trustee), Reuben Mai (chairman), Chrissie Huber (volunteer), Emmanuel Yiannoutsos (trustee), Paul Geange (trustee), Harald Bettin (event coordinator)
I’ve attended the Manawatu Harvest Festival as have many of my colleagues and friends. It was a very rainy day, one of those where you actually ponder on even taking a step outside your home. Well I did and obviously, to my greatest surprise, I was one on thousands! Considering the time frame, the challenge and the weather, I’d like to warmly congratulate you for an incredibly successful event, well done! Feedback I received from everyone was only praises and eagerness to look at next year’s one. A.D.
Hi guys. What an amazing day on Saturday! We were really proud to have been involved with the event. A.W.
What a fantastic day you put on – so many people there despite the changeable weather. Thoroughly enjoyed having a look around and purchased some of the goodies. E.M.
I would just like to formally thank you for a super festival organisation and the event itself. WELL DONE!!!!!!!! I was pleasantly surprised with the crowds that did attend and the great bunch of kids that did come along.
Congratulations on an amazing event on Saturday. Rarely does one see the combination of so many good ideas, creativity and hard work being enjoyed by such a varied group of people, and in such a fantastic venue. I particularly noted how many families attended, and how engaged everyone seemed to be in their various activities. I also personally enjoyed it very much, and met lots of new interesting people. Thank you for a tremendous day. E.R.
Kia Ora mai Harald,
I would like to take this opportunity, to thank you and Reuben for the awesome event. My wife and I enjoyed this event, so thank you very much, I will keep in contact with you both.
kind regards H & T
I hope you recovered from last weekend’s hard work.
I thought it was a really good event…I definitely needed the extra hours to set up and felt a bit hurried at the end of the day to get out, but other than that, a great event.
Lots of people who seemed very interested in what we do and lots of ideas given of possible waste projects to bear in mind for the future.
Inside was so much better than the Ashhurst Domain the year before.
Cheers, Ramon Phillips http://www.ecogreen.net.nz
What a great day at Te Manawa it was awesome. The Woodville Country Spinners really enjoyed their day, spending 6 hours spinning and chatting to visitors was very enjoyable. If you are planning for next year you can count on our support and presence.
It was great, thanks for a fun day out with the family M.B.
So much to see! I think the venue worked really well.
Great event – well executed! Congratulations
We loved it.N.G.
Jason Devlin Good on ya team, and thanks for including Midnight Switch at your Festival J.D.
I sure had a fantastic day at the Manawatu’s Harvest Festival 2012 – so much to see & do – my children & i had a ball! Well done to Harold, Reuben & the rest of the crew you did an amazing job:) C.M.
Gutted to miss it, but my South African whānau were over for 10 days and we were away in the mountains. R.K.
Love been part of the festival, so amazing the amount of families that came along and green virgins….was cool giving the seedlings from Awapuni Nurseries to every child I could…. spread a good 700 plants out into the palmy area and some as far at Hamilton…a nice petunia. Look forward to next year!!! P.C.
Excellent selection and fabulous day. H.R.
Thank you all for putting on this great, inspiring, fun event. Cant wait til the next one. A.H.
Awesome event!! great info for the older of us and neat times had by the kids plus some really good entertainment.hope for some sun shine next time it would make an excellent street festival.perhaps closing George street and the use of the underground carpark of the council building next time?? Kapai to your collective! T.W.
What a pity the weather was like it was and hardly anyone ventured outside to see if there was anything out there. Congrats on putting it all together – It looked pretty successful on the inside & showed lots of work went into it.
Regards Jacinta – Paranui Organics Ltd
Hi Harald. I think the festival was an outstanding success. I have paid big money to go to other events that had a fraction of the attendance and weren’t anywhere near as much fun!
I got to talk to a lot of people about my products and there was a lot of interest in sustainability. I think a lot of people were gleaning information and there will be some progress made from their experience.
The organisation was superb and the vibe was really positive.
Yes to another event, and yes to it being indoors!
Cheers Helen Mays http://www.disbin.com
Harald, Chrissie and team.. What a wonderful day you organised and many thanks for making me think about sustainability and the future for us on this planet. It was a great event for the whole family and I do look forward to future festivals hopefully with improved weather.
Congratulations Mike
Hi Harald
Wow! 4 and a half thousand! unbelievable but true! then again maybe thats why we felt we had dealt with 100′s over the day!
Festival well organised, we were kept well informed of events but left to run our own programme which we appreciate. considering the number of people through its no surprise we felt space limitations, we could do with a bit more space next year, although we appreciate the weather made the last minute swap around.
We had so many positive comments about the fact there were free activities for kids, parents really appreciated it, and enjoyed spending time making with their children. many thanked us for the fact we were free. (of course we let them know we were organised in by you the festival team.)
I can’t comment on anything i saw as my only complaint would be i didn’t get to see anything else at the festival! i usually catch up on things at this festival, make new contacts, see new products and buy a few organic seedlings but this year no chance. too busy what a complaint!
Well done to you and Chrissie and all the team, we love being involved with this local festival and hope to be so for many years to come.
Best wishes,
Bridgette
Hi Harald and the team,
Many thanks for asking but also thanks for pulling together a great event.
From my perspective everything went very smoothly (I was at my stall all the time so I didn’t see any little crises being sorted out).
The people coming through, besides being numerous, were mostly unknown to me which I thought was a very good sign. There weren’t as many older folks as for something like the Ideal Home Show, but lots of families and younger to middle aged people which was excellent as they’ll be around for longer.
I had some anxiety about whehter the right choices were made to have it at Te Manawa but it turned out to be absolutely right. I’m told the entertainment was great and it was good to have this scattered around the exhibition areas so that people could take a break from looking and listening to ‘information’.
Well done. Definitely think it should be an annual thing (as long as there can be enough variety from year to year).
Regards
Chris
Hi Harald,
Great day, really enjoyed it, thank you for all your hard work. Just one thing it would have been good to have had an EFPOS machine at the front desk for the public to get cash.
Looking forward to next year. Kind regards Rose
Hello Harald,
Just a few answers to your suggested feedback and a letter attached concerning our alpaca feedback. I can’t comment on a lot of what I didn’t get a chance to see and experience, but where possible, I have added my thoughts (for what they’re worth).
1) I think the goals of the Trust could well have been met by holding last Saturday’s event. I didn’t see everything but what I did see was well managed by a very competent team of helpers/volunteers (I presume they were volunteers).
2 & 3) The areas I saw were proactive in advertising sustainable products/ideas and/or events, so I guess it appeared successful in achieving it’s goals from what I experienced.
4 onwards) The Region MOST DEFINITELY needs an event like this and a resounding YES, I’d support it again. I loved the atmosphere the one time I was able to walk around for a short time. Really “buzzing” ! It was most definitely well organised.
Well done team – “onwards and upwards’ for another event even bigger and better next year – and a COMPLETE CHANGE in the weather please !!!!!!
Warm regards, Heather
Thanks Harald and to all the volunteers
There was a low key sustainability ‘expo’ about 18 months back held in the PN Square using the marquees left over from the University capping ceremonies. With all due respect, the events couldn’t have been more different. Harvest Manawatu being great.
Key elements:
• Greater foot traffic ensures a cross section of the community
• Greater foot traffic ensures worthwhile for stall holders
• Effort by stall holders is rewarded – for volunteers contributing to these types of expos, results and interest should be guaranteed
• Amount of advertising and interest generated from it was fantastic.
Preference for key sites needs to be reviewed annually – eg Horizons gets top position at the moment but could be relevant theme – river, products, food
The region needs this to invigorate thinking – needs to be as good as any shows/expos held in Auckland and Wellington, helps develop pride in Manawatu area/products
I am sure the museum had an influx of people looking at exhibits who wouldn’t normally go there too.
The atmosphere was vibrant and also variety, not too ‘hippy’ with some innovation products, managed to have variety to get enough to satisfy all ‘customers’
Was well organised by using facebook social media and regular contact to drum up interest. On day volunteer helpers could be better identified with fluoro jackets and a logo?
I would support the event again and encourage some other volunteer groups to become involved – knowing that the foot traffic justifies the involvement.
Good having a set period of 10-4pm so not a long haul for the day.
Improvements – more of the same – advertising and social networking
Perhaps focus on getting good variety of stalls – not all ‘alternative’ in nature – i.e. keeping it mainstream and progressive.
Also possibly have a personality to focus on as well. Get the rugby museum to have the world cup to view etc.
Setting up the day before an advantage but getting notice of this at late stage meant planning difficult.
I am sure some of the planned events and activities were curtailed because of the weather so keep innovating and trying extra things to make the event vibrant.
Overall comment – well done, Cheers P
It was an amazing day and we had a blast! the crowd was great and you guys did a great job organizing it! Cheers, Lynelle
I’m glad the event was a success for you – a fabulous turnout so well done! Cheers, R.R.
What a great day. The Woodville Country Spinners really enjoyed having so many people stop and look, the children were especially captivated by the spinning wheels. Our site was ideal and we would be more than happy to come again next year. Thank you to everyone who made this such a wonderful experience.
Hello Harald
Congratulations for your festival and of course for the good organization that made possible this event , hoping to be here next year to help and be part of it and contribute giving a Mexican taste to this festival .
Best wishes, V
Hi Harald
It was good to work with you and I’m pleased the Harvest Festival was a success this weekend’s weather wasn’t much better to what you had.
Look forward to working with you in the future. Peter
Hi Harald
I thought the Festival was well run at the time myself and grandson spent at the event, nice dealing with you Harald till next time. Regards W.W.
Thank you Harold for all your emails.
Yes I’d like to be involved in the October event, I didnt have the headspace this time, though thank you for your hard work- I do appreciate it.
..however I did take my family down to Te Manawa for a nose- and loved it.
Please keep in touch
D.T.
The atmosphere was really good. The music, the people… it was so relaxed and positive. Keep up the good work.
See you again next year. P
I want to congratulate you for doing such an excellent job at getting people along. The eco-stall holders I talked to were just buzzing with the positive outcomes for them from the day. S.S.
WHAT A FANTASTIC TEAM AND A FABULOUS EVENT. WELL DONE TO YOU ALL. CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE. H.R.
Hi Harald and the ‘Team’
It was a really great day and full marks for the organization of the event. From DOC’s perspective it was very worthwhile with the opportunity to engage with so many people and generate a good level of interest in conservation issues.
I certainly think that there was a broad spectrum of participants and a good range of visitors. There was a very positive atmosphere all round and I would certainly recommend DOC participating in the event in the future.
Many thanks for all your hard work
Kind Regards A.
Thank you,
I will gladly be involved again next year. ( and better prepared)
The traffic area on top of the stairs was not good for four stalls there was no room for people to stop. perhaps 1 or two there next time will improve the opportunity of the stall holders.
Stunning work done by your team.
Congratulations. C.W.
Thanks Harald
Yes it was a fabulous event – well done to all involved in organizing what was a truly ‘well oiled machine’
If you could just hold the rain off next time – that would be great
Thanks again, L.K.
Thank you for giving the SPCA a stall at the festival and for being so organised when the weather turned so nasty on the day by getting us all under cover. Very well thought out.
We had quite a successful day raising funds for the animals and my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We both had a chance to wander around the other stalls and see what was on offer.
Please remember us for your next festival.
Cheers L.H