The Wānaka Festival of Colour organisers have unveiled a packed, week-long 2023 programme featuring an exciting mix of theatre, dance, music and visual arts to take place in Wānaka for a week from late March.

This year’s focus is on “reconnecting communities”, Wānaka Festival of Colour artistic director Sophie Kelly said.

“After a very fractured few years, now is the time to celebrate,” she said. 

“To celebrate being able to welcome back international artists after a long absence; to celebrate the ever evolving and constantly exciting New Zealand arts scene and, above all, to celebrate and showcase Wānaka and the wider Upper Clutha region and all that it has to offer.”

Dubbed ‘the best little arts festival in New Zealand’, Wānaka Festival of Colour will run from March 26-April 2, and at an official launch event this evening (Monday January 30) the 2023 lineup was revealed.

Returning to the festival this year is the Royal New Zealand Ballet, which will be performing the world premiere of a piece that was co-commissioned by the festival to mark the centenary of Katherine Mansfield’s death.

Internationally renowned New Zealand heldentenor Simon O’Neill will perform with NZTrio (Amalia Hall, Ashley Brown and Somi Kim) for an evening featuring Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gessellen and a selection of Strauss Lieder; and an extraordinary one-man show ‘Maureen: Harbinger of Death’, by writer and performer Jonny Hawkins, will make its New Zealand debut at the festival.

In keeping with the theme of reconnection is ‘Force of Nature’, a celebration of the centenary of Forest & Bird, where NZTrio, Rob Thorne, Yoshiki Tsurata, Kathryn Moorhead and others will bring their command of acoustic chamber music to the fore against a visual backdrop capturing Aotearoa’s unique environments and native species.

Many more performances will take place during the week - both at the Pacific Crystal Palace, which will rise again for the festival, and at series of other venues across the Upper Clutha including the Luggate Memorial Hall, the Hāwea Flat Hall, the Bannockburn Hall and The Camp at Lake Hāwea.

This year’s festival comes with a new look and a small but important name change as it becomes the Wānaka Festival of Colour rather than just the Festival of Colour.

“The festival and the Wānaka community are inextricably linked…the festival simply could not happen without the locals’ support and, in turn, the festival brings visitors to the town during a traditionally quieter time of year,” Wānaka Festival of Colour festival director Charlie Unwin said.

“...Adding Wānaka to the official festival identity felt more like correcting an omission than anything else, while highlighting the region as an important arts hub.”

The full programme is available in the Festival of Colour section of your Wanaka App, and tickets for all events will go on sale on Friday February 3. 

PHOTO: Ants Hansen