Wānaka is buzzing on the eve of the 11th Wānaka Festival of Colour, which kicks off tomorrow (Saturday March 29).

The range of more than 60 events includes theatre, cabaret, music, comedy, dance, kōrero, visuals arts, community events and more - as well as local talent.

The Wānaka App was invited to a sneak preview this past week of Stuck In the Middle With You, which was written and performed by Hāwea Flat resident Anna Shaw.

The play, about Anna’s time with her husband Rick in MIQ during the Covid-19 pandemic, shines the spotlight on the couple’s relationship during their confinement in a Rotorua hotel. 

Cleverly staged and produced (with the assistance of fellow Hāwea Flat resident Robyn Bardas), the play features original music and plenty of Anna’s trademark humour. The play ticks all the boxes of the festival’s themes of identity, belonging and self-expression.

Stuck In the Middle With You flows from Anna’s play Remote Thoughts, the story of her four years living and teaching in the remote North Territory Aboriginal community of Wadeye, which premiered at the 2023 Wānaka Festival of Colour.

A scene from the previous festival’s free Community Whānau Day.

The Festival of Colour’s free Community Whānau Day - which starts the festival in style on Saturday - also features local talent.

Taking place around the streets and parks of the Wānaka CBD, it includes the Mint & Te Kākano Interactive Art Stall, Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College (MAC) bands, MAC students in ‘A Picture Tells a Thousand Words’, and the Foundations dance performance. The community day will also feature a selection of food stalls from local cultural groups. 

Other highlights of the festival include Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst in their sell-out play In Other Words, the Aspiring Conversations 2024’s hit Dirty Passports, Canadian circus Cirque Alfonse’s latest work ANIMAL, the cabaret show An Evening Without Kate Bush, and Chamber Music New Zealand’s Reimagining Mozart.

The 2025 Wānaka Festival of Colour will run for nine days from March 29 – April 6.

PHOTOS: Supplied