International artists converge in Wanaka for Festival of Colour

One of New Zealand’s most anticipated arts festivals, the Southern Lakes Festival of Colour, kicks off in Wanaka next week.
 
Launching on Monday 3 April with bonfires, storytelling and song on Wanaka’s lakefront,  the seventh biennial festival presents 48 exceptional events, all showcasing the best in New Zealand and international music, dance, theatre, comedy, visual arts and Aspiring Conversations.
 
In a late line-up change, former champion mountain biker Scarlett Hagen will join mountain biking enthusiast Laura Williamson in the Aspiring Conversations session ‘On Your Bike’. Hagen, who is completing her PhD in mountain biking, replaces Sir Lloyd Geering, who is now unable to attend the Festival.
 
Aspiring Conversations is a popular highlight of the Festival with seven sessions sparking discussion and debate on subjects as diverse as cycling to the Waikato War (with former Prime Minister Jim Bolger); Antarctica to technology and how things can change for the better in a post-truth world.

An additional session on Saturday 8 April entitled ‘Innovation & Disruption’ features London-based co-founder of tech start-up Decoded, Kathryn Parsons, and managing director of Google Australia Jason Pellegrino. Chaired by RNZ’s Lynn Freeman, the pair will discuss the constantly changing technological landscape and how it is changing the world we live and work in. 
 
Seven acclaimed international shows feature in the Festival of Colour programme, including hits from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. New York-based, Grammy Award-winning cabaret star Lady Rizo, who has performed for Prince, Beyoncé and Jay Z, has two sold-out performances in the Central Lakes Trust Crystal Palace, while Irish writer and actor Sonya Kelly will entertain audiences with her award-winning play, How to Keep an Alien. Other international highlights include the smash hit show Every Brilliant Thing, the heart-warming storytelling of Portraits in Motion and Dangerous Song, a musical performance combining the human voice with sounds of endangered animals.
 
Festival of Colour general manager Lindsey Schofield says How To Keep An Alien and Every Brilliant Thing come to the Festival following successful runs at Auckland Arts Festival.
 
“We are thrilled to be bringing the world to Wanaka for the Festival of Colour and hosting some extraordinary international acts – we have artists coming from as far away as Germany, Ireland and the USA,” she says. “It’s going to be a week celebrating all forms of art, from music and dance to theatre and visual arts.”
 

Representing New Zealand in the talent stakes is Silo Theatre’s Hudson & Halls Live!, electronica legend Paddy Free of Pitch Black, APRA Silver Scroll country singer Tami Neilson, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and Julia Deans and Sean James Donnelly singing Sadness Songs.
 
“A number of creative and talented locals are also part of the festival lineup,” adds Schofield. “We have some brilliant artists here in the Southern Lakes and their work is of world-class.”
 
Tickets have already sold out for the two Wanaka performances of local writer Annabel Wilson’s play, No Science to Goodbye, however there are still tickets available for the Glenorchy performance on Friday 7 April. Wilson says she is looking forward to the play’s world premiere next week.
 
“After a successful showing of moments from the piece at Rippon Hall last year, I'm excited to share the full-length work with my community,” she says. “It's a local story, the idea for which first came to me five years ago while working on my Masters in Creative Writing, via distance learning. For me, it's important the show has its premiere in the place that inspired it.”
 
Wanaka writer Laura Williamson, who will be appearing as part of musical collaboration The Blue Moments Project and in the Aspiring Conversations series, says she is also thrilled to feature in the 2017 programme after attending every festival thus far.

“The Festival of Colour turns Wanaka into New York for a few days, but with better views,” she says.

The full Festival of Colour programme is available at www.festivalofcolour.co.nz. Tickets are available through the website or phone 022 4 TIX NOW (022 4 849 669).