Month: March 2017

Preparations are well underway for creating the space the Time Travellers’ Ball will be set in, but to give you a better idea of what we’re creating, we thought we would share some of our vision.

We will be decorating the Anzac Hall in a variety of different styles to reflect a variety of time periods from the past and the future. So we partnered with exceptional concept artist Pedro de Elizalde to give you an idea of the look we are going for with the Ball.

As guests arrive they will be greeted by a cyberpunk dive bar entrance, complete with futuristic advertising, dystopian surveillance aesthetics, and of course, lots of neon:

When guests enter the Anzac Hall they will be greeted with a beautifully decked out Georgian-era hallway, replete with portraiture and decor. Guests will emerge to a palatial area of the hall reminiscent of a Persian Shah’s opulent tent. Moving further in, you can enjoy a drink at our wonderfully decorated Steampunk bar as envisioned below:

Once libation has been acquired, moving further still into the Hall, guests can enjoy food and entertainment from some of the finest chefs and artists the Wairarapa has to offer in the main part of the hall, which, in a cunning display of frugality, we have retained as the original First World War-era spirit of the hall. However the various performances throughout the night will be carried out at the Medieval-style stage:

So we hope that gives you a better idea of what you’re letting yourselves in for, and gets you as excited as we are for the Time Travellers’ Ball!

Each year Creative New Zealand provides Creative Communities Scheme (CCS) funding to city and district councils throughout New Zealand to distribute in their area. The scheme supports more than 1,800 projects every year.

We are thrilled to announce that we are one of those projects! We applied for some funding recently and the South Wairarapa District Council were kind enough to accept our proposal and portion some of the allocated funds from the scheme to our Ball.

This means that we can expand our plans for preparations ahead of the Ball, and offer our guests even more events and activities to look forward to on the night, as well as enjoy a higher standard of set dressing at our desired venue.

We dearly look forward to inviting you to this unique event, and thanks to the Creative Communities Scheme, our event will be that much better than even we had originally planned.

On official documentation we stated it is “an immersive artistic community event featuring anachronistic costume, music, food, and art.” But what does that actually mean?

We had the idea for The Time Travellers’ Ball after moving to Featherston and discovering just what an amazingly creative community it is. The more people we met, the more artists, musicians, craftspeople, historical recreationists, steampunk enthusiasts, and more, we got to know.

The town has been going through a bit of a renaissance of it’s own recently, with some very innovative and influential people moving here, the incredible Booktown event, a beautiful town square being completed, and wonderfully artisanal shops popping up and raising the profile of the town.

To reflect Featherston’s burgeoning reputation as a creative hub, we wanted to create an event where that creativity can be celebrated not only by the people who have helped shape it, but by the wider community as a whole.

With The Society for Creative Anachronism and Capital! Steampunk having such a strong presence in Wairarapa (by way of Wai Steam), we thought we could combine theirs and others’ love for costume and setting with a formal ball. All the while broadening the appeal to everyone who would enjoy dressing in formal historical (or fictional!) attire, and attending an event where they will be wined, dined, and entertained.

That’s great but again, what exactly is the Time Travellers’ Ball?

We are inviting people to don their best formal attire from (almost) any time period of their choosing; past, future, or fictional. Whether in the form of a 7th Century Mercian prince, a 16th Century member of the Italian nobility, or a 22nd Century captain of an attack ship off the shoulder of Orion. It’s up to you.

What should I not wear?

So remember when we said (almost) any time period? That’s because we get the feeling showing up in a very late 20th/ early 21st Century black tuxedo fresh out of a 2020s shop would be rather boring. So we are not encouraging guests to come to the ball dressed in anything readily available from a formal dress hire shop in 21st Century New Zealand.

We want you to get creative, pick a period you love, and spend a bit of time coming up with a great formal costume you can be proud of and show off to your fellow guests.

Along with nothing too present-day, we are also discouraging people from attending The Time Travellers’ Ball dressed as their favourite easily attainable cosplay character. As cool as it would be to host a cosplay event, we feel Wellington’s Armageddon Expo has it covered if you want to break out the Spider-Man costume.

So there you have it, that’s what The Time Travellers’ Ball is all about. If you have any comments or questions then don’t hesitate to contact us through the site, the Facebook, or email us at thetimetravellersball@gmail.com