Issue #952

Tim Buckley, Luma

The Southern Lights are heading back to Queenstown Gardens as we speak. Yep LUMA’s gearing up for another instalment over King’s Birthday Weekend. It’s that time of year again - when you have to start thinking about which night (or nights) you want to get amongst it in the Gardens and catch up with those other nighthawks you haven’t seen in ages.

You also need to start working out which socks to wear and checking if the battery still works in those deelyboppers you got from the dollar shop last year.

We’ve gathered up another one-off collection of performers, live music, sculpture and immersive lightscapes to explore. Remember it’s a long weekend so there’s no better reason to get together with some friendly faces and head off in search of those wtf moments.

The show runs from 5-10pm every night from Thursday 30th May to Monday 3rd June.

As expected, Saturday’s tickets are going fast, so if that’s your jam, you’ll need to get in there and book before it sells out, otherwise there’s four other nights to choose from.

If you’re looking to beat the crowds, Thursday night’s the one for you. Get in before everyone else and see what all the fuss is about

Or Friday; you can pack up the whole family and get into town straight after work to kick off the long weekend in style.
We’ve already told you about Saturday. Last year the queue was a bit longer than we’d hoped, but if you’ve got a ticket you can just stroll up to the scanners and head on in.

Sunday’s great for locals, the hubbub has died down (ever-so slightly), the vibe is a bit more chill and you’re more likely to see the whole show in one go.

Monday night, we slow down the tempo, take a breather, get together for one last gathering in the forest to celebrate the start of Winter, before we pack it all away for another year and start waxing our boards, mos and other things…

You’ve probably already worked out that town’s likely to be a bit chockers and there’s really no point in bringing the car. Queenstown Centr\al are running the LUMABUS Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 5pm so you can skip the hassles and spend your parking budget on refreshments.

LUMA has always been about re-inventing itself and of the ‘if it works, change it’ philosophy. This year we’ve swapped things around again just to improve the flow and hopefully give everyone plenty of time to explore. We’ve even got a Pixie Disco (make of that what you will).

So, in short, there will be five dark nights of unique soundscapes, bespoke installations, local eats and pop-up performances where you least expect them… and just like last year there will be sound. Big, bouncy, mysterious sounds everywhere.

Grab your crew and pick a night. One thing’s for sure, your photos won’t be the same as everyone else’s blurry, pink, stripy blobs from last week.