After waiting an extra year for the Festival of Colour, thanks to Covid-19, Wanaka culture vultures have been out in force this week appreciating the “best little arts festival” in New Zealand. 

Festival general manager Laura Williamson said she’s thrilled with how the festival has gone so far.

“We’re having a great time. Our artists have all commented on the warmth and enthusiasm of the Wanaka audiences, and on the beauty of our region. We are grateful every day that we are one of the only places in the world able to have a festival like this,” she told the Wanaka App.

The Wanaka App has dabbled in local shows and journalism-related conversations - among other arty offerings - this week.

First stop was #thatwanakatour play by our very own prolific and poetic Liz Breslin. Billed as “a fun-filled trip like no other you’ve ever taken”, the play showcased some fabulous local talent, including familiar faces Samantha Stout, Andrea Beryl, Luke Burke, and more recent arrival Agustin Blanco. These were the steady pairs of hands the audience needed through the uncertainty of an Absurdist-inspired storyline set in a packed, stationary bus. 

Anna Fifield, Mel Bunce and David Hall discuss the news of the day. PHOTO: Ray Tiddy

Providing the soundtrack, the 250654 Band (David Baker, Del Tubb, Mark Orbell, and Johanna Hansen) were having as much fun as the cast, but while “an experience was promised”, that experience was mixed. “I enjoyed it. It didn’t make sense, but I don’t think it was supposed to,” one punter told the Wanaka App following Thursday evening’s show. 

More time on workshopping and rehearsals would have tightened up the pace, and let the performance and poetry shine as they should.

Skip to Friday morning (April 16) for the “completely natural brain booster” of Breakfast with Papers, where coffee and pastries were devoured in a packed Crystal Palace as Dominion Post editor Anna Fifield, commentator David Hall, and international news media expert Mel Bunce discussed the news of the day with RNZ presenter Lynn Freeman.

The Wanaka App was pleased to hear the panel emphasise their support for local journalism, and for “the green shoots of new media reinvention”. 

Meremere is “an incredible fusion of storytelling, visuals and dance”. PHOTO: Supplied

A positive of the past pandemic year has been a boon for professional news sources, as people go back to trusted brands in a crisis, Mel said. 

And while a lot of experimental things are taking place in media, the bread and butter of local reporting is critical, David said, including the current affairs of local government - despite it being one of “the dullest areas for reporting”. [The Wanaka App couldn’t possibly comment.]

Some of those themes were revisited in the 12pm Aspiring Conversations session Fake News, again with Anna Fifield, Mel Bunce, and Lynn Freeman, joined by Newshub national correspondent Paddy Gower.

The conversation addressed “who to turn to to provide us the facts, and dispel the lies”, and perhaps unsurprisingly the four journalists opted for good, old fashioned journalism - with a twist.

Self-described “thug” Paddy noted this was the first festival he had been invited to, and thanked Wanaka for appreciating his “intellectual side”.

He said the way he has worked as a journalist (“going out and connecting with people, getting solid information, and making it into a story”) hasn’t changed in 22 years, despite changes in technology.

Anna agreed that the fundamentals of journalism are exactly as they were: having good contacts, checking information, and “telling the truth as fairly as you can”. 

Fake news (or disinformation and misinformation) is alarming, and Paddy believes the “real enemies” are the algorithms in social media, but he didn’t hold out much hope the corporations responsible would make real change.

Mel reiterated the need for local and community news, calling these trusted sources “the best possible immune systems against false information”. 

She suggested people check information before sharing it; ask whether they have a strong emotional response to what they’ve read and explore why, and provide necessary context. “We can all do our bit,” she said.

Paddy believes the best thing New Zealand journalism contributed to in the past year was to provide context, offer public interest journalism, and improved science communication.

And - “we could stop clickbait by not clicking on it,” he suggested.

Looking ahead in the festival, today (Saturday April 17) it offers the biggest programme of free street events ever, with events (including music, dance and circus performers) all day. Look out for the posters and signs with the schedule and find more information in our recent story Festival fever.

More seats have been released for the sold-out show A Traveller’s Guide to Turkish Dogs, showing at the Hāwea Flat Hall on Saturday and Sunday at 7pm.

Tickets are still available from Festival of Colour or the festival box office in the Lake Wānaka Centre, open daily from 9am.