For the next two weeks - and possibly longer - we're going to look at the Jazz Festival.

That might seem like a lot of column space to spend on one event, and there are good reasons why it deserves it. For a start, and this hardly needs to be pointed out, it's the National Jazz Festival, New Zealand's National Jazz Festival, and we in Tauranga are in the privileged position of hosting it – and enjoying it on our doorsteps - each year.
Secondly, it is the event in Tauranga that has the highest name recognition amongst the public. So more people here are aware of the Jazz Festival than any other event. We know this because of a survey done a couple of years back. Everyone, and all credit to festival organisers over the years for this, knows about the jazz festival.
And, thirdly, if you hadn't already noticed, this year's Jazz Festival is the biggest that Tauranga has ever seen and represents the most ambitious expansion of the festival since the start of the 'new downtown model” a decade or so ago.
Much has changed this year. And much of this must be put down to the appointment of a paid festival director, and I don't for a minute by that mean to denigrate the work of Artistic Director Liam Ryan, which is clear from the extraordinary and exciting programme that has been assembled. But the new Festival Director Arne Hermann comes from working with The Wellington Arts Festival and is someone with the skill and experience to create and deal with a festival of this size.
Liam and the rest of the jazz society committee deserve a vote of thanks for finally acting on the long-apparent fact that the festival was simply getting too big for a group of volunteers. When an event reaches this size you absolutely need a director with serious experience in a larger arena, and you can't rely upon someone like that just popping up and volunteering.
With the loss of Montana's naming rights sponsorship a couple of years back a true professional was needed to tie up the host of impressive sponsorship arrangements that are apparent in 2009 and that allow the festival to continue to expand, and the new initiatives this year are some of the most exciting things about the upcoming festival.
At the same time there are risks involved in expansion and the new professional status of the festival has inevitably lead to higher prices for the concert series, which might be a tricky equation in these – we are continually told – hard economic times. On the other hand, there has also been a considerable increase in music that can be enjoyed either free or very cheaply.
There are really three big new initiatives, so those are the things that I'll have a look at first.
Two of these involve transportation as much as anything else, things that add prestige and fun to the festival without being so much about music. For a start there's the City of Tauranga Jazz Steamtrain. This will be heading to Tauranga – with fully-restored carriages and all – from Paekakariki and then will spend Friday, Saturday and Sunday steaming around the Bay (three trips a day) while wonderful old-timers the Mike Nisbet Quartet stroll through the train serenading passengers. It sounds kinda cool. It does, however, cost $65 for adults but since I am not especially a stream train enthusiast I have no way of judging whether this is a fair price.
Or, if water is you preferred medium, there are harbour cruises on the Sebel Trinity Wharf Jazz Riverboat, again with a band playing on board. Like the train, the riverboat (the Kewpie) will be setting off on three cruises a day over Easter. This one costs $57, which also includes canapés.
And then there's the big one. The TV3 Jazz Village. This is the Historic Village and the festival is splitting its afternoon music between a scaled-down downtown and a full-on bash at the 17 Ave location. Downtown on Saturday, both on Sunday, Historic Village on Monday. This is a huge change and I'll look at it in detail next week. In the meantime the full programme is at www.jazz.org.nz.
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