Newmarket Business Association (NBA) has announced today that Festival Italiano, originally scheduled to be held in Newmarket on Sunday 7 November, has been postponed until Sunday 20 March 2022.

NBA CEO Mark Knoff-Thomas says, “We are disappointed to not be able to hold the Festival in November, but due to changes in COVID alert levels, we believe a delay is the most responsible and practical approach. A lot of hard work and planning has already taken place, and in order to give this signature event some certainty, March seems like the best solution right now, and provides a more realistic and achievable timeframe for some ‘normality’.

“It also allows the authorities time to increase the vaccine uptake across the population, and put robust solutions in place for large-scale events, such as Vaccine Passports,” he adds.

Festival Italiano, New Zealand’s largest Italian street festival, typically attracts over 12,000 attendees, and has been hosted in Newmarket for the past seven years. The Dante Alighieri Society has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NBA to manage the event on its behalf.

Knoff-Thomas continues, “A representative from the Waitemata Local Board, one of the festival’s major sponsors, was in agreement with the decision. The NBA would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of our sponsors, including major sponsors Waitemata Local Board, Peroni, SMEG and Rialto Centre. We look forward to seeing everyone on 20 March 2022.