Fwd: Festival Countdown # 8 - 2011 Programme launched

The 2011 Festival of Colour programme was launched in Wanaka with an international mix of outstanding music, theatre, dance, debate and discussion and visual arts. We are delighted with the 2011 programme and urge you to book early to get seats to all the shows you want to see.

The Festival is based in Wanaka with the superb Central Lakes Trust Crystal Palace and Lake Wanaka Centre being the hub of festival fever. The touring programme takes in Queenstown this year as well as Luggate, Hawea, Cromwell and Glenorchy. *
2011 programme… *

At the launch, attended by over 150 patrons, benefactors and sponsors, Nick Brown thanked sponsors for their support, and Festival Director Philip Tremewan unveiled the programme starting with The Phoenix Foundation, one of New Zealand’s top bands, who will play in Queenstown and the final night of the festival at the Central Lakes Trust Crystal Palace in Wanaka.

Ole Ola is a high powered latin dance extravaganza from Fabio Robles and his troupe playing in Wanaka and Queenstown. They will take you on a high energy journey through Central and South America - the tango, the lambada, the cha cha cha and much more!

Other highlights are, the world premiere of /Rita and Douglas/, a touching story between renowned New Zealand artist Rita Angus and musician and composer Douglas Lilburn. Starring Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Houstoun. /Riverside Drive/, our second world premiere, is about growing up in the 1950’s and is based on the 1953 Mazengarb Report on teenage immorality in Lower Hutt. Featuring an all local cast it is a play with huge life, wonderful characters and with a dialogue that is often funny and sometimes very moving.

Other theatrical highlights include the highly acclaimed /Guru of Chai/ which won Jacob Rajan 2010 Actor of the Year together with a revival of one of New Zealand’s favourite plays, /C’mon Black/, based on the 1995 Rugby World Cup year.

The musical programme is diverse, featuring the haunting sounds of arts laureate, Richard Nunns as he brings back to life a long lost tradition of Maori music. Anna Coddington represents New Zealand’s flourishing independent pop music scene. Belgian chanteuse, Micheline, has played to sell-out houses at the Sydney Opera House and Edinburgh Festival and she brings to Wanaka her stunning collection of Jacques Brel songs. New Zealand’s leading pianist, Michael Houston, returns to Wanaka once again but this year plays a very different sort of programme, replacing his classical repertoire with the work of one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Nikolai Kapustin.

/Aspiring Conversations/ returns to the Festival promising to challenge and intrigue audiences as it focuses on ideas, discussions and debate. Sir Lloyd Geering and writers Glenn Colquhoun and Kate De Goldi all search for meaning and for answers to the big questions. Roger Hall ponders on how to be an overnight success in 15 years. Financial journalist Rod Oram and writer Joe Bennett tackle some of the environmental debates. Finally Moana Jackson addresses the question of whether Treaty of Waitangi claims will ever end.

Families will enjoy the quirky antics of Linsey Pollack in /Passing Wind/ as he makes and plays instruments using everyday items such as carrots, rubber gloves and a garden hose! In /2 Dimensional Life of Her/, the imaginary world created by Fleur Elise Nobel sees puppets punching through paper walls to take on lives of their own, teasing and blurring the sense of reality of audiences of all ages.

And in visual arts we have five top artists that will be creating billboards on the lakefront in Wanaka as part in the second stage of Pouwhenua – Markers on the Land. Plus street theatre, schools programme and more.

*Sponsors*

We are delighted to welcome Auckland Airport as a silver sponsor. As well as Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries, Quartz Reef wines and Netspeed as Festival Sponsors

*Buy Tickets*

Public ticket sales start on *Monday 21 February 2011 at 9am* and tickets can be purchased through our website www.festivalofcolour.co.nz <. There are no charges for online bookings, other than to have your tickets posted out to you if you choose, so this is the quickest and easiest way of making sure you get your seats guaranteed.

Alternatively you can phone our ticketing hotline (03) 443 4162.

This year priority sales for benefactors, sponsors and patrons; and the first two weeks of public sales until 4 March will be from the Lake Wanaka Centre box office and *not*the Isite Log Cabin as in previous years. Jo and Katy will be in the Lake Wanaka Centre from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

*Facebook and Twitter*

You can now follow the festival on Twitter and Facebook. This will be a great way to keep up to date with all the latest information regarding ticket asles and availability. So join us now by clicking here <

Be inspired … Be astounded … Be in Wanaka … Be there.

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

ENDS

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