The midwinter magic of the Southern Alps. We’re halfway through winter, and though it’s a quiet time in the festival office, we still have lots to do. We’re well into planning for the 2019 Festival of Colour (April 2-7, … Continued
With the short, cold days of June upon us, and skiing still a few days away, we’re in full planning mode for next year’s Festival of Colour. We’ve had some high-profile performers confirm for 2019, and the programme is … Continued
It’s almost a month since we finished the final session of the 2018 Aspiring Conversations, after three days of thought-provoking discussion, debate and insight. We could not have done it without you! Thank you to our speakers and performers. You … Continued
Wanaka is bustling with activity as speakers for Aspiring Conversations arrive in town for this weekend’s festival of ideas. Tonight we begin this ‘time for thinking’ with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and former President of Ireland and passionate human rights … Continued
The countdown is on as we prepare to bring the Aspiring Conversations festival of ideas to Wanaka in a week’s time, from April 6 to 8. We hope you are as excited as we are about this year’s programme, which … Continued
The Future of Work: speakers confirmed Artificial intelligence, robotics and automation have seen major changes in the employment market with many traditional jobs disappearing and new opportunities opening up – look at Airbnb and Uber. What other changes are coming? … Continued
It wouldn’t be Aspiring Conversations without Chris Lumsden from Paper Plus Wanaka, who has been on hand every year since the festival started with his pop-up bookstore. Come see him in the Armstrong Room during the festival to check … Continued
Taking time for thinking can sometimes mean taking the time to look at an issue from more than one angle. The Aspiring Conversations session ‘Our Dark Materials – navigating our way through the oil and mining debate’, featuring Sefton Darby … Continued
The first week of General Sales is almost done, and the 2018 Aspiring Conversations are proving to be our most popular yet. Two sessions have sold out – our opening night talk with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and former Irish … Continued
We’ve had huge sales today (Friday February 23), with unprecedented demand for our Friday evening session featuring Jacinda Arden and Mary Robinson. We limited sales for the session to two per person across the board because we knew demand would … Continued
