Christchurch Festival of the Arts 102nd year

Arts festival overcomes adversity

Stacy Squires

CONCENTRATION: Adeline Orwin plays an oboe in the instrumental section of the Christchurch Festival of the Arts in the Rangi Ruru Girls' School theatre.

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The Christchurch Festival of the Arts has managed a 102nd year of competition, despite earthquakes claiming several of its venues.

Competition started at the weekend in the first of seven categories for Canterbury's best young arts talent. The sections are instrumental, speech and drama, vocal, ballet and modern jazz, Irish traditional dancing, Highland dancing and piping.

Tricia Radford, the secretary of the Christchurch Competitions Society, which runs the festival, said finding new venues was the biggest challenge, with usual sites, such as the Music Centre of Christchurch and the Caledonian Hall, off limits.

"We did, at one stage, wonder whether it was a good idea to go ahead ... Things like instrumentals and vocals we were struggling with, because they need good acoustics and equipment.

"The response has been really, really good. Sponsorships and grants have been particularly generous this year, which is great."

The arts festival culminates with a concert featuring all seven disciplines at Villa Maria College on Sunday.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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