A red-clad flash mob will gather at 1903 Square later this month to dance like it's 1978.
Wuthering Heights, by the “grand dame of British pop” Kate Bush, spent five weeks at the top of the New Zealand charts that year, and since 2013 there have been global events to recreate her iconic music video dance - dubbed “Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever”.
The events were founded by British performance group Shambush, who attempted to set an unofficial world record for the most people dressed as Kate in one place, and each event is scheduled close to Kate’s birthday, which is 30 July.
A group of Nelson doctors and “big fans” of hers, Sally Thomas, Kae Bennetts and Suzanne Borlase, are now prescribing an event of this kind to the city on 25 July, following Sally and Kae’s red-hot time at Dunedin’s edition in 2022.
“We enjoyed it so much that at the time we said we were going to bring it to Nelson, and it's taken us this long to get around to doing it,” Sally says.
“We are of an era that grew up with Kate Bush, so big fans of Kate Bush, and it's just a really fun opportunity, very non-judgmental. You can dress up in red and do something that takes you out of your comfort zone that you wouldn't normally do, a joyous expression, of your own creativity.
“There's an event in Folkestone in the UK that has more than 1000 people turn up, but for the first one [in Nelson], we'd be delighted if we got 30 to 40 people, so hopefully it can then take off.”
Not only does the Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever paint the town red, the event also strives to support women’s charities, and the trio have chosen Nelson Women’s Refuge for the first Nelson installment.
The dance itself is free and koha (donations) to the organisation are encouraged.
“Women's refuge and domestic violence is something that we are keen to support, as we see the impact of that through our work,” Sally says.
While the dress code for these events is something related to Kate Bush’s iconic flowing red dress from her Wuthering Heights music video, Sally assures that red clothing for a Kiwi winter is permitted.
Formalities begin at 11am with a practice led by Nelson dance teacher Katarina Salcin-Watts.
Nelson Women's Refuge will then share its community support, before the official recital.
Nelson MP Rachel Boyack will MC the event, “since she obviously tends to wear red most of the time”, and Sand McDougall will provide the stagecraft.
In case of wet weather, the event will be held on 26 July at 11am.
