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Story: Anniversaries

A model of the Sesqui 1990 fair

A model of the Sesqui 1990 fair

Six months before it was due to open, the organiser, John Gittus, shows off a model of Sesqui 1990 which was scheduled to be held on Wellington's Taranaki wharf. The hopes for the fair, part of New Zealand's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) celebrations, were high; but when it opened patrons found the fair offered few attractions and was poorly organised. It closed after 12 days.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)

Reference: EP/1989/2576/11-F

by Ross Giblin

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Anniversaries – Sesquicentennial, 1990, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/43034/a-model-of-the-sesqui-1990-fair (accessed 21 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 14 October 2013.

Comments

Stu Mountjoy
10 June 2022
I remembered going to this, barely two days after it went off with a BANG! Two weeks later, nothing. It took me roughly half an hour to go through the (one of two) venues, I didn't even know the other venue had more stuff, but never mind. More people went to the 1970s-style Trade Shows, they were a hit, why did this one bomb?