Wānaka Festival Of Colour Announces 2025 Programme

28 January 2025

The Wānaka Festival of Colour presented by Milford Asset Management, proudly unveils their 11th festival programme, inviting you to immerse yourself in the arts and explore the extraordinary. The 2025 festival runs for nine days from 29 March – 6 April, featuring over sixty events packed with theatre, cabaret, music, comedy, dance, kōrero, visuals arts, community events and so much more.

The full programme is available to check out now at www.festivalofcolour.co.nz, with tickets on sale from Friday 31 January, 8am.

“We’re thrilled to be presenting a fabulous line up of incredible performances and events for the whole community to enjoy.” says Artistic Director, Sophie Kelly. “This year’s programme delves into themes of identity, belonging and self-expression, inviting our audiences to explore diverse perspectives and personal narratives. We honour the richness of cultural diversity with works that celebrate various ethnicities, languages, religions as well as our own rich cultural history. We celebrate the unique heritage of Wānaka and its region, drawing inspiration and stories from local legends, history, traditions and rituals. I encourage you to not just observe but to participate, connect with an open heart and mind, and embrace the opportunity to be transformed.”

The much-loved free Community Whānau Day kicks off the festival on March 29th with an early bird lake plunge followed by a full day of entertainment and creativity at Wānaka’s Dinosaur Park and lakefront. Highlights include interactive installations, workshops, a range of cultural food stalls, live performances, roaming characters and aerial acts. The evening wraps up with an open mic night at the Crystal Palace presented by Creative Juices.

Joining the earlier released performances, award winning Canadian circus with their latest show ANIMAL, the sensational cabaret An Evening Without Kate Bush and Chamber Music New Zealand’s Reimagining Mozart, is a full programme promising to engage and enthral. Highlights include Subtle Dances, a fusion of contemporary dance and live music that brings together some of New Zealand’s finest dancers from BalletCollective Aotearoa. Featuring choreography by Cameron Mcmillan, Sarah Knox and RNZB’s Loughlan Prior, accompanied by live performances of the acclaimed NZTrio He Taonga Wairere, this spellbinding production promises to be a standout event.

Upu, an electrifying theatrical celebration of Māori and Pasifika literature curated by award-winning poet Grace Iwashita-Taylor, will bring the powerful voices of Oceania to life. Be Like Billy?celebrates the show-band legacy through theatre and cabaret as Rutene Spooner shares his personal relationship with his childhood hero and the greatest Māori showman of our history.

Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst bring sell-out theatre, In Other Words, a deeply moving love story exploring Alzheimer’s and the power of music to connect us. Aspiring Conversations 2024’s hit Dirty Passports, curated by Nathan Joe, returns bigger and bolder, spotlighting some of Aotearoa’s finest BIPOC storytellers.

The magical Trick of the Light Theatre returns with their latest work Suitcase Show, a whimsical world of shadow play and storytelling emerging from battered suitcases. Te Radar’s Cookbookery serves up comedy and a deep-dive into Kiwi cookbooks and quirky culinary oddities and Wilson Dixon performs his utterly hilarious comedic show Love Don’t Live Here Anymore, You Do.

Audiences can enjoy a diverse music lineup, featuring indie icons The Veils (pictured above) with tracks from their new album Asphodels, Delaney Davidson brings his enigmatic country noir to his celebrated Out Of My Head concert and crowd favourites The Eastern (main image) blending gospel, country, and punk. From acid jazz to noir folk, bluesy indie rock, and te reo Kāi Tahu witch-hop, there’s something for new experiences and every taste, including the opportunity to participate in a group sing off led by musical heavyweights Jason Te Mete and Rutene Spooner in Battle Chorus.

The ever-popular Aspiring Conversations return, offering up discussions from a range of identities. Respected writers, musicians, professors, and journalists join the line-up, including acclaimed author and bookseller Ruth Shaw, launching her new memoir, Anne Salmond, Mike McRoberts, Susan Devoy, and the legendary Kiwi comedy duo Jools and Lynda Topp.

Ensuring that rangatahi also have the opportunity to explore music, theatre, comedy and self-expression through hands-on workshops and performances, the festival returns to local schools.

The magnificent Pacific Crystal Palace will again take centre stage as the festival’s hub, while venues across the region will further showcase performances. For the first time, the Hāwea Community Centre joins the lineup, alongside the Hāwea Flat Hall, Mount Aspiring College Blackbox Theatre, Bannockburn Hall, Rippon Hall, The Camp at Lake Hāwea and two shows at Te Atamira in Queenstown.

“This year’s theme of embracing the extraordinary and trying something new ties perfectly with our gifted name from Kāi Tahu, Te Kaupeka Rau, which reflects seasonal changes and the idea of turning over a new leaf,” says Executive Director, Ruth Heath. “Once again, we have something for everyone to connect and engage with—an opportunity to find joy and surprise in discovering something new alongside friends and whānau.”

Check out the full programme in the handy flip book here or online at www.festivalofcolour.co.nz