Drive EV backs Taupo festival

The Drive EV dealership in Taupo is supplying a couple of EVs to help with the ninth annual Graffiato: Taupo Street Art Festival in the town centre this Labour Weekend, October 26-28.

“We will be offering both a Nissan Leaf and a Renault Zoe as zero emissions vehicles to help support the event,” Drive EV owner-operator Steve Greenwood says.

The EVs will be used by festival support crew to deliver supplies to artist and others, also helping reduce the festival’s carbon footprint.

“They did a carbon count last year and found a diesel ute they were using was among the key contributors, so approached us to get an EV this time,” Greenwood says.

He says artists associated with the event did a mural on a Drive EV wall.

Being mindful of the environment is a core focus for this year’s festival, with organisers Towncentre Taupo continuing to improve their sustainability practices.

“We’ve made great progress reducing our environmental impact over the years and plan to improve each year,” festival coordinator Alice Thompson says.

“We are aiming to be a zero-waste event by 2020.”

Gina Kiel, Xoe Hall, Gwil, Erin Forsyth and Yelz are among the headline artists at the Labour Weekend festival, with seven of the 11 artists in the line-up having attended before.

All will be bringing their own styles of muralism.

“When Graffiato first started in 2011, artists were mostly from graffiti and street art backgrounds. These days it’s much more diverse with illustration, typography, tattooing, calligraphy and studio painting all represented on our walls,” festival curator Ross Liew says.

A comprehensive Graffiato: Taupo Street Art Festival Walking Map highlights a selection of Graffiato’s expanding portfolio of more than 85 murals.

Visit www.taupostreetart.com for more information.