Here in Wanaka, the focus has been on fundraising. We are putting together another world class programme for our audiences – one which again includes free community events and a wide-ranging schools programme – and we are reaching out to our friends in Wanaka and beyond to help us fund our festival.
See below for information on how to become a Patron or Benefactor supporter, and how to renew if you’ve supported us in the past.
And if you would like to get involved as a business Sponsor, please get in touch with GM Laura Williamson – we have sponsorship opportunities for businesses of all sizes. You can email Laura on laura@festivalofcolour.co.nz, or call the office on 443 4172. She loves coffee, and would love to share one with you.
Thank you to everyone who is already supporting us – our festival is a costly endeavour, and you make it all possible for our community.
With this in mind, this month we are thrilled to welcome back beSure Tailored Insurance and Florence’s Foodstore and Café as Local Business Sponsors – another two brilliant Wanaka businesses who love to see the arts flourish in Wanaka.
The Wanaka App is working with the Festival of Colour again as a Media Partner. We’ll be popping up again on the App with our festival pop up button next year. And thank you to Queenstown Lakes District Council who are helping us through their Events Funding programme.
It hasn’t been all about work though – we’ve been taking in the stunning conditions at our local ski resorts, Treble Cone and Cardrona Alpine Resort, too – Laura took the picture above out back at Cardrona.
Focus on youth
PHOTO: Oh Three Photography
We heard a lot of great ideas, and are already looking into a number of them. Some planned initiatives include:
- getting the Festival of Colour out onto the streets of Wanaka more
- upgrading our online and social media presence
- doubling up on popular sessions where possible to increase availability.
We will also be running focus groups later this year with some of our Patron and Benefactor supporters to find out what our long-term festival fans have on their minds. Watch this space!
Literature alert: Bridget Williams Books Winter Series
If you’re in one of the main centres over the next two months, it’s definitely worth checking out the BWB Winter Series.
Coming up this month, Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw author of the new BWB Text, A Matter of Fact: Talking Truth in a Post-Truth World, will be leading panel discussions in Auckland and Wellington.
In Dunedin, historian Barbara Brookes will discuss women’s history through the lens of objects and images from the Otago Museum collection, and Damon Salesa will be giving a public lecture on the question, “What would it mean for New Zealand to act like a Pacific Island nation?”
Support our festival!
A very big thank you to the Patrons and Benefactors who have already renewed for 2019, you’re early support gives us confidence in planning our next programme.
If you haven’t renewed yet, or if you would like to become a Patron or Benefactor, here are a few easy ways to do it now:
- renew and buy memberships online through the Festival of Colour website
- direct deposit your donation into our Southern Lakes Arts Festival Trust bank account with your name as a reference
- post or drop off a cheque to the festival office: PO Box 630, Wanaka, 9343
- get directly in touch with General Manager Laura Williamson at laura@festivalofcolour.co.nz, or on 443 4172.
Patron or Benefactor supporters enjoy a priority booking period for tickets, invites to Festival functions and an abundance of good karma.
What’s on in our region
August 3 – 24
Gallery 33, Helwick Street, Wanaka
On now at Gallery 33, the duo show featuring Thomas Hancock’s ‘Objection’ and Wanaka artist Jane Shriffer’s ‘Don’t Touch That’ is a colourful and rich exhibition with a fun contrast of figurative and abstract painting.
Tall Tales & True: Stories told out loud
August 15, 16 and 17, 7pm
Wanaka Yacht Club, Wanaka
An evening of true stories told out loud. Seven storytellers tell seven stories based on truths, loose and otherwise. From Shackleton’s cat to tales of netball court trauma, from an unconventional birth to a creepy look inside the mind of an “incel” – narratives to make you laugh, cringe, well up, and wonder. Tickets from Pembroke Wines (CASH only) or text 027 414 1785.
Audi Quattro Winter Games NZ
Friday 24 August – Saturday 8 September
Queenstown, Wanaka and Naseby
The sixth edition of the Audi quattro Winter Games New Zealand, an elite international Winter sports event taking place during August and September 2018 in Queenstown, Wanaka and Naseby. The world’s best will compete in freestyle skiing and snowboarding World Cups and the FIS Junior Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships 2018.