Festival of Arts to light up the town
Katikati is celebrating the Arts with its month-long Festival of Arts in October – albeit on a reduced scale due to alert level restrictions.
Since 2006, the New Zealand Mural Contest and Festival of Arts has been a biennial event on the town’s calendar. This year’s event originally promised over 50 art-related events, workshops, competitions and displays encapsulating the theme ‘Lighting Up the Town’.
“Unfortunately due to lockdown and Alert Level restrictions, which have impacted on artists and our event partners in various ways, several events have been postponed or cancelled,” says Steve Graveson, President of Katikati Open Air Art, hosts of the Festival. “But the show goes on and there’s still something for everyone.”
“The calendar still offers a range of events including movies, paint and wine nights, theatre and concert performances, as well as a range of light and art displays, workshops for the whole family and artistic competitions with prizes up for grabs.”
The New Zealand Mural Contest, with the theme of ‘Celebrating the Unsung Heroes of 2020’, and $12,000 in prizemoney for the winning artists, has been postponed until April next year, along with other bigger crowd events.
Highlights of the Festival include the many free displays on show during the month, including the illumination of giant ‘Shrooms’, creating a colourful mushroom-shaped light spectacle night and day at Diggelmann Park on the Main Road of Katikati.
Steve, along with Jacqui Knight, the Promotions Manager for event organisation Katch Katikati, acknowledge the amazing support from funders and sponsors. “The Arts are an integral element of our community and its well-being, and our supporters enable us to bring this celebration of arts right to our door step.”
Visit the Katikati Festival of
Arts website at www.KatikatiFestivalofArts.org.nz.