Summer City (Wellington)

Letter from WCC

The Summer City programme started as a citywide outdoor performing arts festival, Summer ’79—created by Rohesia Hamilton Metcalfe of the Wellington City Council Parks and Recreation Department in the course of her work forming new projects to promote the public parks of Wellington.[2]

Taking inspiration from the Artists Co-op's[2] employing of artists in 1978 under the government’s Temporary Employment Programme (TEP),[3][4][5] Hamilton Metcalfe arranged full-time employment for four performing groups to perform outdoors: Chameleon (street theatre group, headed by Aileen Davidson), Serendipity (group of musicians, headed by Michelle Scullion), Mask Theatre (group headed by Murray Edmond) and the Gallery Dancers (group headed by Paul Jendon and Jennifer de Leon).[2]

As the programme grew, Graeme Nesbitt and Len Nightingale were employed to help expand the programme and organise events and Dransfield House at 355 Willis Street was converted to office and rehearsal space for the staff and artists. Nesbitt added four People’s Park Days, several rock concerts and a programme of Gamelan music and dance. Local restaurants and other artists, including several Artists Co-op artists,[2] also contributed to Summer '79 events.[2][5]

The programme opened in the Dell of the on 7 January with a "garden party" that included a full afternoon of family entertainment (theatrical, dance, music, readings) and a temporary outdoor restaurant.[2] The programme continued through February 28 including themed events in the Dell at Wellington Botanic Garden every Sunday, performances at the Wellington Zoo and in the Town Belt and the People's Parks Days in the suburban parks.[2]

The programme's success led to it being continued as an annual summer festival with a new name, Summer City.[2]

The Parks Department's focus on developing family recreation and promoting more use of the parks reflected the parallel work of Barry Thomas and others to intervene and utilise otherwise vacant or under-utilised spaces in the city.[3][2][6]

Poster for Summer City 1999 Wellington, New Zealand

Hamilton Metcalfe left the Parks Department in June 1979 and Nesbitt became the Director of the newly-named Summer City, now established in the Arts Centre at 355 Willis Street in Dransfield House.[7][2][8][9] Artists were given relatively free rein to create tours, events, groups, art events, music, theatre, and even magic shows. Venues across the city were jointly selected and timetabled to create a rolling platter of free summer-centred events. Employment went from being housed under the Dominion Museum to the Wellington Community Arts Council.[2]

Artists, technical staff, and management were employed under the Department of Labour's Temporary Employment Programme (TEP) and Student Community Services Programme (SCSP)[2] which grew into the Project Employment Programme (PEP) from 1982.[10][11][12]

Summer City was used as branding for Wellington City Council summer events through the 1980s, 1900's and early 2000s.[13]

The Arts Centre moved to the Band Rotunda in Oriental Bay[14] then to Toi Poneke.

The programme offered a very broad range of arts, entertainment and genres: concerts,[15][16] clowning,[17] portraiture,[15] face painting, circus,[18] dance,[17] modern music,[15] classical music,[9] theatre,[17] poetry,[19] film making,[2] movies,[19] story telling, festivals, comedy, magic,[17] fine art exhibitions,[20] flying lips,[21] travelling shows,[22][23] exhibitions,[15] Oriental Bay pavement painting,[24] harbour spectacular,[21] tagged fishing competition,[21] sky diving,[21] photography and making a film .[25]

The Sun Festival involved 3000 school children[26] and attracted 60,000 festival goers and thousands of local participants.[27][28] Composer Jenny McLeod spent three months in the lead up to the Sun Festival event (1983)

Joe Bleakley designed Sun Festival tower being erected prior to being towed into Oriental Bay carrying fireworks

teaching 1000 school children to sing her compositions, with the vision for them to be singing together in Oriental Parade in a massive open-air concert.[29]

Town and Country Players toured the whole South Island by ferry and train,[23] Gestetner People's News published a daily newspaper,[2] live farm animals[2] madrigal singing, travelling tree house with native trees[2] Punch and Judy,[2] puppetry,[9] Night Dance and lighting extravaganza,[2] demonstrations of sky diving, dog trials, show jumping and trampolines, Peter Pan Pirate day, video games, donkey and cart, jazzercize, kitemaking,[30] Birdman competition, rock barge,[31] teaching: potting, yarn spinning[15] hangis[32] All Nations Day,[32] hang gliders,[19] Town and Country day,[19] motorcycle road race,[18] haggis hurling,[18] contemporary day,[33] National Play Day.[34]

There were many employed and involved in Summer City and many went on to have established careers. In 1980 there were between 40-50 artists employed with the Student Community Service and the Temporary Employment Programme (TEP).[9]

The first three managers worked from The Arts Centre at 355 Willis street[2]

• Rohesia Hamilton Metcalfe - Promotions of Parks and creator of Summer '79[2]
• Graeme Nesbitt - Summer City 1979-1980[2]
• Stephen Nelson - Summer City 1981-1982[21][31]
• Darcy Nicholas - Summer City[45]
• Fiona Gunter-Firth - Summer City Toi Poneke[46]

Venues were found throughout the city:

• Botanic Garden's Dell[2]
• Ben Burn Park[2][42]
• Anderson Park[1]
• Wellington East Girls College, Onslow College, Town Belt, Berhampore Golf Course, Plimmer Park, Hataitai Park, Central Park
• Sound Shell
• Oriental Bay[31]
• Cuba Mall[2]
• Seatoun Park[2]
• Scorching Bay
• Strathmore park[51]
• Island Bay Playground
• Wellington Zoo[2]
• Frank Kitts Park
• Prince of Wales Park[32][2]
• Lyall Bay[18]
• Queen Elizabeth Park[48]