WOMAD(ed)

Our second WOMAD has just finished.  WOW – what an event, what a weekend.  It’s amazing to me to watch such a huge event for this region, roll in, have seamless execution, make people so happy, and roll back out.

We’ve been booked for this event since May of last year – and were focused on welcoming guests Thursday – Sunday. It was a focus for us as Rod was traveling for the first part, so we worked hard to get the rooms ready and he left thinking I’d just have to manage on my own for Thursday and Friday.  On Tuesday, the phone started ringing and we were booked out for Wednesday as well.  Add a last minute cancellation, and quick re-booking of rooms and our original plans went out the window.

We both agree that we have to be ready to individually take care of this business.  We need to be able to go away, and for the other to take care of it.  It’s a lot – but we do it.  It’s the life of a small business owner, and it’s one of the things that makes it work.

So we had a mix of WOMAD lovers and novices staying at the House.  It was such fun to talk to people coming into town, who had no idea about WOMAD and were wondering why town was so busy.  We convinced them to go, and they came back wanting to stay longer.  We had two sets of friends in, who went to the festival for hours – and it was fun hearing about their favorite performances.

Multiple stages, interesting side events, great food and a relaxed, festival atmosphere – just a quick wander from the House.  We do always tell people that we truly love living here.  Our location means we are in the middle of everything going on in New Plymouth and after coming from city life, we love that.  I went up to the festival on Saturday with my camera and loved just wandering around, listening to music and people-watching (I get that from my father, a true people-watcher.)

I stumbled upon Latinaotearoa and all the stress of the past few days just went away.  A good friend texted me earlier in the day, reminding me to ‘have a relaxing, fun and free night.”

I am so blessed to live in a place, where I not only have been able to create our own business, live by the sea, and in this beautiful House, but I also get to walk out my door, and into great experiences like WOMAD and relax, have fun and free my mind.

WOMAD 2015 dates have been announced, and we already have booking inquiries.