Festival of Colour fundraises for Christchurch

The Festival of Colour today announced it will donate the proceeds of the Island Summer concert to the Christchurch arts community affected by the February earthquake.

Island Summer were strongly affected by the earthquake with Hemiquaver Lesatele escaping from St Paul’s church and band leader, Pos Mavaega, in a mall with his two children as it fell down around them.

“I was in St Paul’s Church on corner of Cashel and Madras in the back of the hall when the earthquake hit,” said Lesatele. “I ran out to check on the girl who was in the front office and all I could see was a wall of grey dust and we knew straightaway the side wall had come down. As we came out onto Madras Street, CTV was right in front of us and it was like another hit, we were stunned, it was like a scene from a movie.”

He went on to say the donation from the Festival of Colour was another excellent example of Kiwis helping each other out and the concert was sure to be emotional for them.

“It’s another humbling example of an organisation sharing the love for the people in Christchurch with the hard times they are going through,” he said. “To be playing is an honour and it’s sure to be quite emotional. The whole band will be giving it 100% and while we’re playing we’re always thinking of loved ones back home and of those to have lost friends and family. It’s an honour to be a part of and all credit to the organisers for taking the decision to do this.”

Festival of Colour director, Philip Tremewan, said the concert provided the ideal opportunity for the Festival to put something back into the arts, helping to provide valuable resources.

“Island Summer is a band with strong roots in Christchurch, they’re all musicians who where in Christchurch at the time of the quake and it’s impacted on their lives and their families lives and their community,” he said. “We thought it would be a great occasion to use their concert as a fundraiser to put some resources back into the arts in Christchurch.”

Island Summer is dedicated to the wave of Pacific migrants who settled in New Zealand in the 1960s, putting a contemporary spin on the old songs and ballads from this time, songs of longing and island stories that everyone will recognise, bringing a hint of the tropics to autumnal Lake Wanaka.

Island Summer plays at the Festival of Colour on Thursday 14 April at 8.30pm in the Central Lakes Trust Crystal Place. Tickets are available from www.festivalofcolour.co.nz or by calling 03 443 4162.

The 2011 Festival of Colour takes place on 12 – 17 April and is generously supported by Central Lakes Trust, The Community Trust of Otago, Creative New Zealand and Aurora.