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26-27 October, 2013, Bridge of Remembrance, Oxford Terrace, Ōtākaro - Avon River, The Square
Following on from the success of LUXCITY, this year’s main event for FESTA 2013 is the carnivalesque Canterbury Tales, conceived and led by Free Theatre Christchurch. This extravaganza of light, colour and interactivity will delight, stimulate and offer reflection as we explore the past, present and future of Christchurch.
At 8.30pm the procession of large puppets and masked performers will assemble near the Bridge of Remembrance and follow a specific path through the central city at night: along the river to Worcester Bridge before ending at the heart of the city in Cathedral Square. Spectators can join the procession at any point as it moves through different sites that come alive with diverse performances, soundscapes, lights, hospitality, interactive architecture and installations. This unique experience is the major event for this year’s festival, creating a city-within-a-city based around different Canterbury tales - expect to see the city like you’ve never seen it before! Dress up, wear a mask and come join the carnival of Canterbury Tales. |
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 Click on map for enlargement
The lead Friar embraces Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel.
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We love theatre, music, cultural events, art – 
Views and ReviewsYou'd be forgiven for thinking you'd stepped right into a children's storybook. 
Ahh Christchurch, you missed another good one.... All of the friars were full of antics, embracing the audience with huge hands, high-fiving children and making small disputes Against the background of razed remains and unfamiliar spaces, the generous spirit of festival is all the more telling. As a pilgrimage, the event and its creators achieve the miracle of wonder. 
...a fantastic display of creativity, ingenuity and organization, and one of the most uplifting weekends that Christchurch has seen since, well, the last FESTA in 2012. The carnivalesque procession went from the Bridge of Remembrance to Cathedral Square, and while that might not seem like a long walk, as the puppets and floats meandered along, the two hours flew by. In the small ...the interaction between the puppets and the audience was the magical stuff. 
Huge puppets were a highlight of the street parade. When Lou Reed died, I was on stage on the other side of the world, wearing whiteface make-up, dressed as Baron Samedi, Lord of the Cemetary and of Crossroads. I was playing guitar in a civic pageant and giant puppet show, to the manifest horror of all solid citizens, peeling off a ten minute burst of hysterically overamped atonal noise. This symbolised the destruction wrought on my city by 10,000 earthquakes, as well as the ceaseless historical onrush of all-consuming capitalism, consigning us to annihilation. And the reason I was doing it was, quite simply: Lou Reed. 
The experience of Canterbury Tales has given us the confidence that the public also shares our desire to make our post-quake city into an innovative work and playground where it is exciting to live. 
...we try and reverse the usual idea of building buildings and then hoping people will inhabit them; we start with the rituals that bring people together and that represent the community searching for a sense of self, and then build around these gatherings. Unlike normal puppets their interior workings were visible so you could see the strings being pulled and the wheels being turned. 
What has been happening in Christchurch may come to be viewed as a model of resistance against the dominant culture's drive towards the status quo ante.... We may be at a time in Christchurch, as everywhere, when we must, like the Angel, confront catastrophe that, being of our own making, is even more virulent than an earthquake. Previews and PublicityJohn Sellwood, Campbell Live, 21 October 2013 (see clip above)
Influentials: Christchurch arts after the quakes
Sally Blundell, Listener, 28 September 2013 Canterbury Tales Lynn Freeman interviewing Tanya Muagututi'a and George Parker RNZ Arts on Sunday, 10 October 2013 GO Arts - A City Within Vicki Anderson, The Press, 11 October 2013 A Canterbury tale of Rebirth Charlie Gates, The Press, 18 October 2013 FESTA - creating a city-within-a-city Vicki Anderson, The Press, 21 October 2013 Time to bring an empty city to life George Parker, The Press, 22 October 2013 FESTA's Canterbury Tales - Better living through puppetry Grant Cattermole, Christchurch City Libraries, 23 October 2013 From Under the fale Pacific Underground rises The Big Idea, 24 October 2013 What city do we want to emulate? Johnny Moore, The Press, 24 October 2013 Duck, it's time for a parade The Press, Thursday 24 October 2013 |
