Immerse yourself in the arts and explore the extraordinary

The Wānaka Festival of Colour will return this year for the 11th time. The bi-annual festival will be hitting the streets from 29 March – 6 April, celebrating all things arts and culture. This year features an exciting programme bursting with dance performances, live music, theatre, cabaret, comedy, kōrero, visuals arts, community events and so much more.

The flagship event for the arts in the Southern Lakes region will once again bring the stunning Spiegeltent to the centre of town – The Pacific Crystal Palace will host many events and serve as a hub over the nine days. Additionally, many other venues across the region will further showcase performances. For the first time, the Hāwea Community Centre joins the lineup, alongside the Hāwea Flat Hall, Mount Aspiring College Blackbox Theatre, Bannockburn Hall, Rippon Hall, The Camp at Lake Hāwea and two shows at Te Atamira in Queenstown.

It will all kick off on 29 March with the much-loved free Community Whānau Day. It includes an early bird lake plunge followed by a full day of entertainment and creativity at Wānaka’s Dinosaur Park and lakefront. Highlights include interactive installations, workshops, a range of cultural food stalls, live performances, roaming characters and aerial acts. The evening wraps up with an open mic night at the Crystal Palace presented by Creative Juices.

“We’re thrilled to be presenting a fabulous line up of incredible performances and events for the whole community to enjoy,” artistic director Sophie Kelly says. “This year's programme delves into themes of identity, belonging and self-expression, inviting our audiences to explore diverse perspectives and personal narratives. We honour the richness of cultural diversity with works that celebrate various ethnicities, languages, religions as well as our own rich cultural history. We celebrate the unique heritage of Wānaka and its region, drawing inspiration and stories from local legends, history, traditions and rituals. I encourage you to not just observe but to participate, connect with an open heart and mind, and embrace the opportunity to be transformed.”

One of the most popular parts of the festival is its involvement with local schools. Ensuring that rangatahi also have the opportunity to explore music, theatre, comedy and self-expression through hands-on workshops and performances is an important aspect. There’s a strong focus on engaging the community and in addition to ticketed events there will be a number of free events running during the day and into the night.

Some of the artists involved in the festival this year include award-winning Canadian circus with their latest show ANIMAL, where a gentleman farmer has surrounded himself with sine familiar but slightly outlandish creatures. Circus, song, dance and theatre come together to show off some breath-taking acrobatics and to push the boundaries of what you think of when you hear circus. There’s also the sensational cabaret, An Evening Without Kate Bush, which pays tribute to the music, fans and mythology of one of the most influential voices in pop music.

For those who enjoy chamber music, there’s Chamber Music New Zealand’s Reimagining Mozart, while Upu is an electrifying theatrical celebration of Māori and Pasifika literature curated by award-winning poet Grace Iwashita-Taylor, bringing the powerful voices of Oceania to life. Be Like Billy? celebrates the show-band legacy through theatre and cabaret as Rutene Spooner shares his personal relationship with his childhood hero and the greatest Māori showman of our history. There’s magicians, a comedy deep dive into Kiwi cookbooks, a moving love story exploring Alzheimers and the power of music, storytelling and, really, something for just about everyone – the full programme promising to engage and enthral.

In the off years of the festival, Aspiring Conversations is held. It first featured as part of the festival in 2023, when it couldn’t go ahead due to Covid. It was such a hit that it’s returning this year, offering up discussions from a range of identities. Respected writers, musicians, professors, and journalists join the line-up, including acclaimed author and bookseller Ruth Shaw, launching her new memoir, Anne Salmond, Mike McRoberts, Susan Devoy, and the legendary Kiwi comedy duo Jools and Lynda Topp.

“This year’s theme of embracing the extraordinary and trying something new ties perfectly with our gifted name from Kāi Tahu, Te Kaupeka Rau, which reflects seasonal changes and the idea of turning over a new leaf,” executive director Ruth Heath says. “Once again, we have something for everyone to connect and engage with - an opportunity to find joy and surprise in discovering something new alongside friends and whanau,” Kelly says.

The full programme containing over 60 events for Wānaka Festival of Colour is available to check out now at festivalofcolour.co.nz with tickets on sale from this Friday, 31 January, at 8am.