Forest and Bird celebrate 100 years with music at Wānaka's Festival of Colour
A musical celebration of 100 years of Forest and Bird in Wānaka and Christchurch will mark the beginning of the organisation’s centennial year in 2023.
The performance will make its South Island debut at the Wānaka Festival of Colour, a week-long celebration of the arts, from March 26.
The Force of Nature is an acoustic chamber music performance featuring eight world premieres, with visual designs capturing native species and environments unique to Aotearoa.
Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki said she was excited to hear how the eight Kiwi composers expressed their feelings about flora and fauna through their music.
“Some are expressing they joy they feel when in the wilderness, some are demanding action to save endangered species, all are deeply personal,” she said.
Conservationist Captain Ernest “Val” Sanderson established the Native Bird Protection Society in 1923 after seeing the destruction of native bush, extensive soil erosion and the implications for native flora and fauna in New Zealand after World War I.
That organisation became the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, which has fought for environmental causes for more than 100 years.
Notable campaigns have included cleaner water-ways, more sustainable fishing, the protection and expansion of wetlands and a solution to kauri die-back.
The performance is on April 2 in Wānaka, followed by a Christchurch performance on April 3.
It will be one of 45 events during the Wānaka festival which will feature music, dance, comedy, drama and topical conversations.
Artistic director Sophie Kelly said in 2023 the festival was about reconnecting communities after a very fractured few years under Covid-19 restrictions.
She was looking forward to welcoming back international artists after a long absence and the return of local favourites.
The Royal New Zealand Ballet will perform the world premiere of a piece co-commissioned by the festival to mark the centenary of Katherine Mansfield’s death.
Woman of Words is based on moments remembered in Mansfield’s letters to friends and family.
Internationally renowned and Grammy award-winning tenor Simon O’Neill is joining the NZTrio - Amalia Hall, Ashley Brown and Somi Kim - for an intimate concert featuring works of Mahler and Strauss.
Australian Jonny Hawkins will perform his one-man show Maureen: Harbinger of Death to Wānaka, telling the poignantly funny tale of razor-tongued doyenne of Kings Cross in its heyday.
Celebrated choreographer Michael Parmenter, Balfolk Dunedin director Kate Grace and Southern musicians Catgut and Steel will present participatory dance events including the Bannockburn Ball.
“Comfortable shoes are a must,” organisers say.
Musicians who will perform during the festival include Reb Fountain, Adam Page, Whirimako Black, Jenny Mitchell and The Phoenix Foundation who will close the festival with a performance blending pop, rock, and psychedelic prog rock.
Comedians include The Modern Māori Quartet Ngā 80s and dysfunctional German siblings Otto & Astrid from the cult band Die Roten Punkte.
Conversations include Chris Finlayson on treaty settlements, Chloe Swarbrick and Rod Oram on global heating, Carmen Parahi on media and race, Dame Valerie Adams on women in sport and Charlotte Grimshaw on family dynamics.
The Wānaka Festival of Colour runs from March 26 to April 2, 2023 and includes free events.
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.7% Summer
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36.7% Winter
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1.6% Other - I'll share below
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