Festival of Colour - Day Five

 The penultimate day of the Festival of Colour saw the streets of Lake Wanaka come alive with street artist, stilt walkers, buskers and tango dancer, with hundreds of people crowding into downtown Wanaka to enjoy the free entertainment.

In the Aspiring Conversations programme, politics was the order of the day with former Prime Minister, Jim Bolger, who gave his informed viewpoint of the current economic situation and New Zealand’s position in the world as a result. He expressed his hope that the crash would encourage the world to develop policies to prevent the rich getting more and the rest missing out and that we can’t just hope that the issues surrounding the world’s unsustainable economic structure will go away. “New Zealand in the world after economic meltdown can be a much better place if courageous leaders step forward and lead,” he said.

He was followed by British High Commissioner, George Fergusson, who discussed the relationship between Britain and New Zealand, how it has changed and evolved from both countries’ point of view.

In a performance that brought a new dimension to a classical music concert, the highly acclaimed New Zealand String Quartet combined the work of Haydn: The Seven Last Words from the Cross, the images of Nigel Brown and the poetry of Dinah Hawken, read by the poet herself in-between movements. “The combination of 200-year-old music with modern day video, images and poetry made for a wonderful experience,” said festival director, Philip Tremewan.
The warm, gravelly voice of LA Mitchell lit up the Infinity Crystal Palace with a sparkling collection of seductive soul and jazz, much to the delight of the packed venue. Emerging singer, Jess Chambers closed the hugely popular Late Night Club programme with her soaring voice echoing through the night, accompanied by Justin ‘Firefly’ Clarke, his acoustic guitar rhythms a perfect match to Chambers’ crystal clear voice.

The Festival of Colour finishes tomorrow (Sunday) with tickets still available for a number of shows and is generously supported by Central Lakes Trust, The Community Trust of Otago, Creative New Zealand, Infinity Investment Group, Queenstown Lakes District Council and Aurora. For further information and ticket sales visit www.festivalofcolour.co.nz