Wānaka Festival of Colour returns
The tenth Wānaka Festival of Colour is hitting the streets from 26 March – 2 April. The bi-annual celebration of the arts will host international acts for the first time since 2019 and has a programme that is bursting with dance performances, live music, theatre and comedy.
This year they’ve rebranded from Festival of Colour to Wānaka Festival of Colour, to celebrate arts in the Upper Clutha region. The flagship event for the arts in the Southern Lakes region will bring a stunning Spiegeltent to the centre of town – The Pacific Crystal Palace, which will host many events.
The underlying theme this year is reconnection – with the arts, artists and people. Jo Mills is the publicist for the event and is excited to bring the best of Aotearoa and the world to Wānaka and the Upper Clutha.
“This is our tenth festival year and I think one of the great things is just taking a punt on something you’re not sure about,” says Jo. “I think it’s always been a key part of the festival – there’s the well-known names, whether it’s The Royal New Zealand Ballet, the Phoenix Foundation or Simon O’Neill, which are always great fun – but you can also look at the programme and go for something you might not automatically gravitate towards.”
In the off years of the festival, Aspiring Conversations is held. It was unable to go ahead last year due to Covid and has been brought back as part of this year’s event. This means that a series of panel discussions will be incorporated. 2023 also brings a fresh new look to the event through adding an injection of vibrant colours, which will form the backdrop of the festival. The colour palette was chosen with a view to the broader Wānaka landscape, especially at this spectacular time of year. The refresh also pays homage to those involved each year, from volunteers to visitors, sponsors, and the team – all adding to the Festival and region.
There’s a huge variety of artists and performances including throughout schools – there’s a strong focus on engaging the community. In addition to ticketed events there will be a number of free events running during the day and into the night.
“On the final weekend of the festival we have what we call the Wānaka Community Day and there are just a number of really cool events all around town. Suddenly, rather than it being in all the indoor venues of the region, the CBD becomes the centre stage. Wasabi, the Queenstown Japanese community choir are coming to perform, we have the Biggest Little Circus, which is a really cool circus performance, and Silk and Circus,” says Jo.
The Wānaka Festival of Colour will run from 26 March until 2 April offering a number of different acts across multiple venues around Wānaka.
To view the programme and festival map, and to grab tickets, visit festivalofcolour.co.nz
