First Headline Act Announced For FIFA Fan Festival™

Dunedin (Friday, June 30, 2023) – We are delighted to announce that Dames Jools and Lynda Topp will be headlining at Ōtepoti Dunedin’s FIFA Fan Festival™ next month. Thefan festivalis a key part of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, offering the community the chance to come together to watch away matches live on thebig screen and to hear some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s favourite musicians.

“We are beyond excited that the Topp Twins will be part of our stellar musical line up and can’t wait to reveal the whole programme soon,” says Dunedin City Council Team Leader - Events Dan Hendra.

The Topp Twins are iconic Kiwi entertainers who have created an enduring legacy of song, comedy and politics across stage, film and TV.In 2022 they celebrated 40 years as performers – making them New Zealand’s longest-running musical and comedy act and well-loved national treasures.

As singer-songwriters, they have won multiple awards, including NZ’s Best Country album (several times), significantly broadening country music’s appeal and crossing genres by mixing acoustic country with some blues and female folk. As a child, Lynda recalls she fell into a swoon when she first heard the yodels of Shirley Thoms and June Holms. She taught herself to yodel by playing these old 78s repeatedly until she nailed it. Today she is undoubtedly now one of the world’s greatest yodellers.

“It’s very appropriate then that the Topp Twins will be a major part of our tribute to Swiss yodelling on Sunday July 30, the final day of the fan festival and the day New Zealand plays Switzerland here in Dunedin,” says Mr Hendra.

Ōtepoti Dunedin’s fan festival will take place on six days throughout the tournament from 20-30 July. It will be held at The Town Hall and Glenroy Auditorium and is free to the public.

The fan festival programme also includes workshops, talks, cultural performances, sports activations and family friendly activities. The full programme will be released next week.

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