Little Day Out draws a vibrant, happy crowd

July 3rd, 2011
by Sophie Harrison

The Motueka Youth Council's, 'The Little Day Out' proved to be a success last Sunday when the event attracted approximately 160 youth from around the Tasman region.

The team of eight Motueka High School students, along with the help of community coordinators Libby Brown and Jody Maru, spent considerable time organising the event which hosted three locals bands, 'All that I Despise', 'What Lies Here' and 'Musgrave'. The event was much talked about and successfully attracted youth from Nelson.

Sound checks and rides were set up by midday at the Motueka Recreation Centre Stadium. Teenagers eagerly queued outside, anticipating a great night. Upon entry the youth were treated to activities which included bouncy boxing, pillow pole fighting and mural painting. To add to the evening, Shellz Kitchen, Pizza de cielo, and a sausage sizzle were well positioned to feed the hungry adolescents throughout the evening.

The night kicked off with a fantastic performance of Zumba lead by Lynn Herbst and her team of dancers, with the audience encouraged to participate. The rest of the evening was not for the faint-hearted with rock metal pounding and the music so piercing the youth council were supplied with earplugs! Smoke machine and strobe lighting complimented the mood. Enthusiastic youth could be found at the base of the stage where a mosh pit was formed and there was an endless supply of head banging.

Lucky ticket holders were awarded amazing prizes throughout the night thanks to our sponsors, Bay Pharmacy, Abel Tasman Outdoors, Whitwells Menswear, Astrolabe Fashions, United Video, Floral Affaire and Westpac.

The Youth Council had the opportunity to MC their own event and each member was allocated their own job prior to the event on the night. Mikayla, Amanda and Michael did an awesome job on the door along with the help of some volunteer adults, who enforced bag searches and breath-testing. Jacob and Harry posed as the sound technicians and were front and centre when any band issues arose. Tegan, Joni and Sophie floated around throughout the night and supervised the activities.

Although during the night there were a few hiccups, with the bands suffering a broken snare and bass and everyone being evacuated out of the building due a false alarm, the council found their first event went smoothly and it has encouraged them to possibly run the event in the future.

Reviewing the night, the teenagers agreed they would alter the way they advertised and planned an upcoming event. Providing a range of music, setting entertainment in concrete before publishing advertising material and ensuring there were no last minute panics are among some of the critiques. It was a tremendous learning curve for the group.

Holding an event in Motueka which was solely aimed at youth, the Motueka Youth Council is now looking forward to continuing to accommodate the growing demand for youth events in our area in a safe and controlled manner.

Here are some photos taken at the event.

And here's a YouTube clip of the first band that took the stage: .

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