The Southern Lakes Arts Festival Trust has received $95,000 for the Wānaka Festival of Colour 2025 from Central Lakes Trust (CLT).

The funding is part of $237,546 in grants from CLT’s August round, which supports a range of initiatives including the construction of two new outdoor spaces, programmes supporting vulnerable members of the community, and projects that preserve and celebrate our heritage. 

“The Wānaka Festival of Colour 2025 will once again transform our town into a lively hub of creativity with performances, art installations, and interactive experiences that celebrate our shared humanity and offer something for everyone,” Wānaka Festival of Colour executive director Ruth Heath said.

“Bringing together diverse performances, voices and perspectives, the festival fosters a sense of connection and inspiration that resonates far beyond our events into the community - impact that would not exist without the Central Lakes Trust, who have been with us from the very beginning.”

The Upper Clutha Historical Records Society was awarded $25,000 towards its digital media project.

“The CLT grant enables the bold new strategy to create a new community-facing digital media platform and website, under the Wānaka History banner, to bring the stories and vibrant history of Wānaka and surrounding communities to life,” society treasurer Bruce Foulds said.

“Our particular focus is on exciting the local community and visitors, particularly young people, to interact with community plaques and our web site to easily access the images, oral history recordings, and pioneer stories which make up our rich history.” 

Other recipients include Te Kura o Tititea Mt Aspiring College, which received $25,000 towards an adventure playground that will be open to the wider community outside school hours.

CLT is a charitable trust that offers financial support for charitable initiatives. Since its inception in 2000, the trust has grown its asset base from $155M bestowed by the Otago Central Electric Power Trust and distributed more than $146.6M into a wide range of community projects and services throughout the Central Lakes area.

PHOTO: Supplied