Arrowtown Autumn Festival celebrating 40 years
Proud to be celebrating the 40th year of community spirit, Arrowtown Autumn Festival will bring amazing food, wine, arts, music, sporting events and more to town in April. The extensive programme boasts over 50 events to suit people of all ages, and is run by the community, for the community, with a goal of showcasing local talents as well as historical and cultural aspects of the town.
Highlights of the festival include the parade and market day on Saturday at 2pm, a 40th celebration firework display and street party on Thursday evening, the outdoor screening on Friday evening and Pie, Pint and Pinot on Sunday.
“There’s something for everyone from adults to kids. Saturday is always a great day for any newcomers because the atmosphere is just so huge, with the parade and the market day on. It’s really just a celebration of Arrowtown and everyone involved in Arrowtown. We just want to be able to share that with other people before winter time and have the community enjoy themselves, too,” Vanessa Williams at the festival says.
At Lakes District Museum & Gallery the Bayleys Art Exhibition Opening Night is on Friday from 6pm. It’s one of the longest running events at the festival, attracting an overwhelming number of artists from all different backgrounds. This year they’ve had among the most submissions ever – there’s a selection process as unfortunately they can’t squeeze all works in. There’ll be a range of works on display from ceramics to photography, paintings and mixed media, and there’s prizes to be given away.
“We have a guest artist every year, this year it’s Nicki Jackson, and the guest artist is the judge for the year,” Jane Peasey, director at Lakes District Museum & Gallery says. “It’s really nice because it means you get a different perspective each year and different winners.”
Jackson is an emerging artist who grew up in rural Canterbury. She’s spent the last two years in Queenstown and is self-taught, with two bachelor’s degrees, both unrelated to fine art. She often paints beautiful scenes of mountains and landscapes.
As the submissions are open to anyone, they receive a range of works from professionals and amateur artists. Peasey explains they try to keep the gallery space accessible overall, supporting artists who may not be able to afford a commercial gallery to exhibit year-round.
“It’s a chance for people who are maybe painting in their living room or their garage to see their art on the wall in a gallery, which can be quite nerve-wracking, but they always are really, really proud once they see their art displayed properly on a gallery wall. It’s really cool, really nice to see.”
The museum is a charitable trust, which puts them in a fortunate position to be able to support artists and the artistic community. The festival is a great way to experience a range of different events, soak up some culture, celebrate and reflect on Arrowtown’s colourful history and have some fun.
Arrowtown Autumn Festival will run from Wednesday, 15 to Sunday, 19 April. Things will kick off with the official opening ceremony at Buckingham Green at 12pm on Wednesday. The Autumn Festival Art Exhibition will be on display at the Lakes District Museum & Gallery until Sunday, 24 May. Head to arrowtownautumnfestival.co.nz to view the full programme and get tickets for those events that require them.
