Living in the past

Going to town in an annual celebration of art deco style doesn’t require embracing the era’s suspect values.

- NIKI BEZZANT

I'm standing on the grass in front of the Napier Soundshell wearing an antique 1920s dress and hat, chatting to a young woman dressed in full 20s Egyptian-revival style. From headdress to hem, she's a tribute to Tutankhamun. She looks fabulous.

A couple in shorts approach wearing cruise-ship lanyards. "Excuse me," the man says with an Aussie twang, "can you tell us what's going on here?" What's going on is the Art Deco Festival Napier. It's Hawke's Bay's annual celebration of all things deco: architecture, fashion, cars, planes, music and more. When you're in the middle of it - vintage cars lined up, Tiger Moths overhead, jazz blaring and every second person dressed in period style - it's hard to believe anyone wouldn't cotton on to the theme. It's immersive. The cruisers have somehow missed the memo.

The festival has had a bad run in recent years: cancelled in 2021 because of the pandemic and severely limited in 2022 as Covid restrictions meant no public outdoor events could be held. In 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle struck on the festival eve and it was cancelled again as the region dealt with the disaster and its aftermath.

It's been a difficult year for Hawke's Bay, to say the least, and the locals now seem primed to party. The weather gods have smiled and the crowds returned. At the vintage car parade on the Saturday, it feels like the entire town's population is on the street wearing a cloche or a boater to watch and wave. Art

Deco Festival volunteer and driver in the parade, Rod Newson, reckons "any excuse we have for a celebration right now, we'll do it". At the soundshell on Saturday night, with a full band playing and the lawn full of dancers of every age, the atmosphere can only be described as joyful.

Festival general manager and Art Deco Trust heritage manager Jeremy Smith says he feels "elated and shattered" when I speak to him a few days after the event.

"It's been a lot of fun. A great joy," he says.