Drawn up plans for this year’s Nelson Arts Festival have been unveiled.
The annual festival, which will adorn the city between 19 and 29 October, will feature 53 different events including theatre, dance, comedy, music, poetry, visual art, literary talks, and cultural conversations.
Executive and artistic director Lydia Zanetti says the whole team are “really excited” to display the many artworks that have been created by the 200 local, national and international designers, and build on last year’s success.
“It was so well received last year, it was really exciting, and we’re looking forward to having that experience again this year,” Lydia says.
“We’re keen to get audiences experiencing different kinds of works they wouldn’t get to experience in other times of the year and to meet different artists… and allow our communities to come together and connect, have conversation, and get to know their neighbours, that’s our main driver.”
The festival will see the return of the Mask Carnivale to the CBD on 27 October after a three-year hiatus.
Lydia says, the festival will once again offer a pay-what-you-can ticketing model, where audiences can choose between five price points per ticket.
They hope this year’s “accessible” model will draw in a larger audience.
Episode 14 - What’s holding Nelson back? — The Nelson Pod
Lydia says, some of the main attractions that will embellish this year’s festival include NZTrio and friends presenting chamber music and taonga pūoro to celebrate Forest & Bird’s centenary at Nelson Centre of Musical Arts on 23 October.
This event soared to sell out seasons at this year’s Auckland Arts Festival and Festival of Colour in Wānaka.
Lydia says the festival will also inflate Wellington-based artist Elisabeth Pointon’s seven metre inflatable monolith at Nelson Airport.
This artwork promises to spearhead a fantastic visual arts programme which also features the work of neurodiverse Whanganui-based artist Bailee Lobb, whose giant textile bubbles and live sleeping performance installation will soothe the senses.
Check out the full festival line-up here.
