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The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been named New Zealand’s favourite event of the past year at the New Zealand Association of Event Professionals (NZAEP) 2016 awards.

Presented during last week’s Eventing the Future conference, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was named the country’s favourite event in a public vote - decided by a nationwide public poll in partnership withEventfinda.co.nz – the online guide to events in New Zealand.

Presented at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium from 18th to 21st February 2016, the event was a co-production between the New Zealand Festival and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland.

The Tattoo’s four performances at Westpac Stadium, marked just the fourth time that the event had left Scotland in its 65 year history to perform in Australasia.

More than six years in the planning, the 2016 Wellington performance was a huge logistical, financial and technical challenge. Once the bid for the event was secured, organisers the New Zealand Festival organisers began working closely with the Tattoo team in Edinburgh to create a distinct major event offering for New Zealand.

New Zealand’s version in February included a cast of 1287 performers from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Tonga, Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. The event took place over four performances and attracted over 84,000 attendees from New Zealand and around the world, making it the biggest show ever staged in Wellington’s Westpac Stadium.

NZAEP Chief Executive Vicki Watson says the four-day event contributed considerably to the regional economy and was truly complex and challenging in its organisation requiring significant skill from the event professionals managing it.

Watson stated “organisers wanted to deliver a world-class major event that delighted audiences. An overwhelming 98% of attendees rated the event positively. It received significant critical and audience acclaim.”

The NZAEP awards also named the Tattoo as the Best Hosted Major Event.

Among other awards, the Auckland Pop-up Globe was named as Best Regional Event of the Year.

Performances at the Pop-up Globe, the world’s first temporary working replica of the second Shakespeare Globe theatre, are believed to be the largest, most successful home-grown theatre event in New Zealand history.

The brainchild of international theatre expert Dr Miles Gregory, Pop-up Globe was brought to reality in just 15 months from concept to delivery. The idea was born when Gregory read a bedtime story to his young daughter: the book featured a pop-up version of the Globe theatre and the idea was born.

Organisers wanted to provide the largest festival of Shakespeare ever seen in the southern hemisphere, including two major new productions and hosting numerous NZ theatre companies over a 10-week season to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. They wanted to sell 50,000 tickets but finished up selling 94,000 tickets to 128 performances of eight different Shakespeare plays.

The judging panel for the NZAEP Awards included Tourism NZ Chief Executive Kevin Bowler, Creative NZ Chief Executive Stephen Wainwright, Head of NZ Operations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Dame Therese Walsh, NZ Media and Entertainment Michael Boggs and Eventfinda Chief Executive James McGlinn.

The awards were presented on 4th August at a sold-out gala event at the Auckland Museum.

With record entries into this year's awards, the 2016 winners overcame intense competition to prove they are the very best of the best.

Full list of winners:

Event Professional of the Year - Victoria Murray Orr, Challenge Wanaka

Emerging Event Professional of the Year - Martin Peat, Beca

Best Exhibition of the Year - Air New Zealand 75 Years: Our nation. The world. Connected.

Best Partnership for an Event - Air New Zealand for Air NZ Queenstown International Marathon

Best Regional Event of the Year - Pop-up Globe Auckland

Best Major Event of the Year - Air New Zealand Queenstown International Marathon

Best Community Event of the Year - Christmas in the Park Turangi

Best Industry Supplier for an Event - Sidekicker for NZ Polo Open

Best Hosted Major Event - The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

New Zealand's Favourite Event - The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

NZAEP was set up 10 years ago to advocate for the burgeoning events sector in New Zealand. The annual awards aim to establish excellence in benchmarking the industry, judging not just what the event is, but how it was run.

Click here for more information.

Images: Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (top - courtesy of Bradley Garner/WRST) and the Pop-up Globe Auckland (below). 

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