We recently celebrated our 50th issue – hurrah! Editor Jenny Rudd has the round-up.

PHOTOS Jordan Vickers

On stage ready to welcome everyone to UNO’s 50th birthday party, I could see exactly why the Bay of Plenty’s thriving. The room was full of people who support each other. Locals in the arts, business, governance, community groups and medical teams, our columnists, advertisers, readers – we wanted to invite everyone we'd ever met to share the joy together. 

And what better way to celebrate than with the lead singer of one of the country's biggest bands (and the cover star of our 50th issue) playing all their bangers and some epic covers?! We hit the dancefloor while L.A.B's Joel Shadbolt performed, before singing our hearts out to his closing rendition of Lean On Me. He showed us exactly why L.A.B’s In The Air was 2020’s biggest-selling single – the energy in the room was electric.

The entire night was truly a local effort; everything we ate, drank and did came from the hard work and enterprise of those connected with the Bay of Plenty. Pals came from Jay and Anna Reeve and Katikati’s Leveret Estate kept us bubbly. Non-boozy bubbles came from San Pellegrino, which is distributed nationwide by Federal Merchants, based here in Tauranga. The iconic yellow Easy Lager cans were from at The Island in Papamoa, and the absolutely delicious grazing table came from Tauranga caterers Blank Canvas. And, of course, the fabulous location was Totara St, arguably the best venue in the country, right here at the Mount.

Thank you to everyone who came to UNO’s birthday party and celebrated and smiled along with us. Here's to the next 50 issues!