One of the most rewarding aspects of what we do is giving back and paying it forward through our Community Relations Programme, which includes our pro bono work with numerous organisations.

It’s an important focus for us – out team gets so much from engaging in this work: incredible satisfaction and sense of purpose, together with new learning, broader perspectives and meeting amazing, forward-thinking people from all walks of life.

One of our longest associations is with the Festival of Colour, a biennial cultural extravaganza that sees our community treated to an eclectic array of performers and thought leaders.

Currently, our Director, Mike Toepfer, is Deputy Chair of the Festival’s Trustees, and Aspiring Law provides pro bono legal support for the event. This year, we also had the pleasure of supporting Kiwi singer-songwriter Estѐre, who performed at Gin and Raspberry.

We’ve just received a lovely letter from Festival Director Philip Tremewan, not only thanking Mike and the firm for the support, but also providing some great info about the success of the Festival, including audience feedback – which we know will interest many of our readers.

“We have had huge feedback from our audiences telling us about their enjoyment of a festival that ranked as world-class,” Philip says. “Our first performer Jord Savall came to us from a concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York and was then heading to the Philharmonie in Paris!

“We were delighted to bring our leading national arts companies – the Royal New Zealand Ballet, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and The New Zealand Dance company – to Wanaka. And people loved the range of music from Icelandic singer JFRDR to Canadian backwoods band the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra to Wellington-based singer-songwriter Estère, who you sponsored. It was a great session at Gin and Raspberry and brought in such a different audience.”

We were delighted at Philip’s news that the Festival exceeded box office targets – 9882 tickets were sold, with 31 of the 49 shows sell-outs – and that the audience is not only growing, but diversifying.

“We successfully welcomed new audiences – a growing number of visitors are attending, and, through fresh programming and new marketing initiatives, we are reaching a younger demographic. Close on one-third of our audiences are new to the Festival,” Philip says.

“Our street programme was the biggest ever, and people came out in droves on a sunny festival Saturday to enjoy everything from a “living library” of local experts to young local dancers in amongst Bullock Creek to an audio-walk to the lake.

“The schools programme gave our young people – 1690 in all – opportunities to engage with the arts. This included the Royal NZ Ballet Dance Educator working with young dancers all week, circus performances from 3 Speed Crunch Box, sessions with story-teller Tanya Batt and an invitation from the NZ Symphony Orchestra for students to attend their rehearsal.”

It was such a great letter to receive. Thanks, Philip – not just for your kind words and interesting update, but for everything you and your team do, so we can be treated every two years to what is one of the most interesting, colourful and enriching events on the region’s events calendar.