Taranaki Bridge Congress

The Taranaki Bridge Congress is an annual event run by the Taranaki Bridge Congress Inc Society to bring together players of the card game. The event is held in March over the three days of Taranaki Anniversary weekend. 

“Having an event like this is important. For some of the locals who don't travel out of the province, it's their chance to play against better players from other centres,” Sandra Calvert, Treasurer, said. 

“We wanted to make sure that all the players had a good time and that includes the food. As a less populated area, we have to do things a bit better than everyone else. It has to be a good experience and well run, otherwise people are very quick to vote with their feet,” Colin Carryer, Chairman said.

A grant of $2,500 from Toi Foundation went towards running a successful event, including hiring caterers.  

“We did some fundraising as well. There were about 25 volunteers from the committee giving their time. People don't realize the hours that go into running an event like that. When it runs well, it seems easy. But the reason why it was easy is because there's a lot of good stuff going on in the background.” 

 “People need to come and practice against all the better players rather than just in their little club. They need to have that competition to raise their game before they go overseas. One of our club members, Pam Livingston, has just been partially sponsored by the Toi Foundation to go to Morocco to represent New Zealand in August 2023." 

“We'd had online events and we'd had to cancel our congress for two years due to COVID-19. So it was nice to have everyone coming back to Taranaki for our congress. If you like cards and the mental challenge, bridge is an awesome game.”