It's a wrap at the 2009 Festival of Colour

Sixty four performances in eight towns and 10 venues, over 12,000 tickets sold and over half the performances sold out – the third Festival of Colour was declared a resounding success by organisers and audiences alike.

The final day featured the sell-out world premiere of Mike Nock’s new work, Southern Suite, performed by Michael Houstoun and Diedre Irons. If the calibre of the music and its performance wasn’t sublime enough, it was further enhanced by a camera above the keyboard, showing the audience the amazing dynamics of fingers and keys, as performed by two of New Zealand’s finest pianists.

Earlier in the day, the Sunday Brunch show by Tui Award winners, Delgirl was packed to the gunnels, as was Classics Up Close, a special classical musical show for youngsters by the New Zealand String Quartet that featured special guests, the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra.

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra went on to raise the roof of the Infinity Crystal Palace in the final performance of the week and ending a sell out tour of the region. One of the most extraordinary touches of the evening was when the New Zealand String Quartet came on stage to play an eclectic mix of ELO, Rossini and The Beatles, returning the compliment from earlier in the day.

The Aspiring Conversations programme finished with lively debate between Hamish Keith and Minister of Arts, Christopher Finlayson over the subject, “What use is art?”. Keith likened art to air “we can’t do without it” while Finlayson said, “The arts are as fundamental as roads, the issue is how do we make sure the arts flourish?” The debate came later when TVNZ came under fire, together with the hidden gems of Te Papa.

The four Artists at Work, Simon Kaan, Areta Wilkinson, Michel Tuffery and Martin Hill, presented their discoveries and works for Pouwhenua (markers on the land). Using local flora, imagery and ancient names and texts, the results of their weeklong project were very diverse. Some, such as Martin Hill’s raupo circle were finished and temporary, others, such as Areta Wilkinson’s, will use the information they gathered here for ongoing work.

The Festival of Colour will return in April 2011 and was 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 visit www.festivalofcolour.co.nz