The Western Bay Community Awards 2023 bring together all those who are involved in the not-for-profit sector; to celebrate and acknowledge their incredible community work that is helping make the Western Bay of Plenty one of the greatest places to live.
STEMFest was thrilled to have been nominated and then picked as a finalist under the Event Excellence Award category. We shared the category with the following amazing events:
After Dark Urban Light Festival
The night of the awards was on Thursday 16th March 2023 and held at Baycourt Arts Centre (which celebrated 40 years hosting amazing events for the Bay of Plenty). Team STEMFest took advantage of the chance to get together the organising team and to join in with the celebrations to find out about all the other inspiring people and things happening in our region.
The evening started off with a string duet followed by a striking Kapa Haka performance by rangatahi from Te Kura o Matapihi with an interval dance by the ‘Jammers’ at Starjam, which brought the house down.
The Event Excellence was the first award to be announced and before we could down our drinks and settle into our seats, we were announced the winners in the Event Excellence category!
Tia and Soraya were tasked with representing STEMFest and took to the stage to accept the award from TECT Chairman, Bill Holland.
After all the category winners were announced, we were able to mingle and chat with other winners and finalists and to grab some more team photos. What a wonderful night it was to be surrounded by friends and such inspiration people doing some awesome things for our region. Big thanks to the judges and to the organisers of the awards: Acorn Foundation, Baytrust, TECT, Tauranga City Council, and Western Bay of Plenty District Council for the recognition and contribution that STEMFest makes to Western Bay of Plenty and beyond!
