Pageant Costs Are High—Or Are They!

NZ Truth, Issue 1142, 20 October 1927, Page 14

Pageant Costs Are High — Or Are They!

Published financial statements of the recent Military Pageant and Searchlight Tattoo held in Wellington disclose some interesting facts.

THIS grand military tournament was held in the principal centres of New Zealand during the visit of His R.H. and Her R.H. the Duke and Duchess of Tork and in this respect the synchronising of these events showed great wisdom on the part of the controlling authority. Consider the amount spent in advertising publicity in the Wellington centre, £358— equal to approximately 4% per cent of the gross receipts — which proves that Royalty can draw a crowd anywhere — even in democratic dominions beyond the sea. Costs of production do not disclose items of an extraordinary nature in connection with the Royal visit, except that the living flag expenses were, perhaps, higher than they would have been had not the committee felt justified in ordering new costumes for thia event which formed part of the welcome to the visitors. The National Pageant Board received £1146 which covered Wellington's proportion of the cost of the Wembley costumes _ used In connection with the old-time military display. The grandstand seats erected or the western bank of Newtown Park cost the committee £538. This amount is considered reasonable in spite of the fact that the lowest tenderer retained possession of the timber after the stand was dismantled — not an unusual arrangement in contracts of this nature. The "Wellington City Corporation Parks Committee benefited by £155 for the hire o'f Newtown Park, while lighting charges totalled £295 — and there are no complaints in this department. J Net profits shown are equal to 49 per cent, (approximately) of gross receipts — truly a great performance for a pageant. Here it might be said that the only honorarium shown is one of £ 50, probably paid to the honorary secretary who deserved more than this. j

No doubt he has also the kind regards of the pageant board for his services, but the time and labor involved would probably show a very small return per hour on the £50 honorarium he received. Receipts disclosed show some remarkable features — for example, the profit on programmes is £104, no doubt made up from advertising receipts. Programmes are not usually rushed at a searchlight entertainment owing to the difficulty of studying the contents by the rays of the searchlights. Gate and admission receipts return the enormous figure of £6792 which gives some idea of the crowds attending at 2/- per head admission fee. Queens' contributions represent only 60 per cent of the actual profits of the respective general funds for the reason that the pageant was arranged not only for the benefit of Regimental and Community funds, but for kindred bodies. The Navy League, the Red Cross Society, and the Returned Soldiers' Association all participate in the profits which means that another £751 in profit was made! Pageant costs are not abnormally high when all facts are considered.