Students and teachers from four local primary schools took to the stage at the Lake Wānaka Centre last week (August 7-8) for the Upper Clutha Children’s Music Festival.

The usually biannual festival was last staged in 2018, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic

Students from Wānaka Primary School, Te Kura O Take Kārara, Holy Family School, and Hāwea Flat School performed a range of songs, conducted by Wānaka Primary School principal Wendy Bamford.

The songs were organised into three brackets, with the overall theme ‘we are superheroes’, and every child wore a cape and mask.

Wendy conducting the students.

It was Wendy’s last time holding the conductor’s baton, as she plans to retire at the end of this year.

She told the Wānaka App she made sure she “really enjoyed this one”, which she did because “the children and teachers I worked with from the four Upper Clutha primary schools were amazing”.

Wendy said the lead teachers from each school work with her to select songs around a theme and these are taught in school for a term.  

“All of the schools work first with their own choirs and then I join the choirs together for three to four massed choir practices and then we stage it.”

More than 100 local children took part, with many teachers from each school helping. The band comprised children from all four schools, led by local music teachers Pete Stevenson and Helen Carter.

“We had two brilliant evenings with a full house on both nights,” Holy Family School teacher Janis Sandri told the Wānaka App.

Janis said it was a special event with it being Wendy’s last music festival.

“She has been the driving force behind the event and past events,” Janis added.

The Rotary Club of Wānaka provided funding for the tiered scaffolding used on stage.

PHOTOS: Janis Sandri