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Due to a partnership between Forsyth Barr Stadium and Lion Nathan, the name “Dunedin Craft Beer Festival” is set to be somewhat ironic. The stadium has a contract with the beer mass-producers/ monopoly-holders that requires any event involving alcohol to include the company’s brands.

Although Lion Nathan’s brands include pseudo-craft beers such as Emerson’s and Mac’s, the event is also expected to include the likes of Speight’s. OUSA would not comment on whether there were other factors at play that meant they had to include Speight’s; however, they felt “you couldn’t have a beer festival in Dunedin without them.” Top-quality craft beers from the North Island are not expected at the event, with brands such as Parrot Dog and Garage Project missing out.

Adding nuisance to PR injury, the OUSA Events team has also paid Dunedin film company Motion Sickness Studio for a one-page Wordpress website. Wordpress templates work on a “fill-in-the-gaps” model and require very little work to produce. However, the organisers felt that using Motion Sickness Studio was a worthwhile investment – despite the company not being web developers.

As Critic went to print last Thursday, the website was also broken. OUSA were working with Motion Sickness Studio on the problems and hoped to have them fixed by the end of the week, although they were quick to emphasise that OUSA was also very busy with Re-Orientation Week events.

A large scheduling clash is also on the cards, with Christchurch’s The Food Show, billed as “New Zealand’s national food and wine event,” occurring at the same time.

On a positive note, a partnership with Air New Zealand’s Grabaseat Getaways has proven very popular, with tickets selling out fast to people hoping to attend from around the country. Packages include return flights, a ticket to the festival and one night’s accommodation for a maximum of $299 (if coming from Auckland).