Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Editorial: Festival a great way to Escape

Bay of Plenty Times
5 Jun, 2016 11:12 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Annemarie Quill.

Annemarie Quill.

Tauranga has pulled out the stops for the long weekend with insanely beautiful weather - a bit of a wintry nip in the air but warmed by gorgeous sunshine.

It has been the perfect setting for the Escape! Festival, only the second of its kind in Tauranga, which opened at Baycourt on Friday and ends today.

Baycourt was a hive of activity with the foyer transformed into an Italian-like cafe/wine bar, and outside people spilled on to the lawn space for coffee, smoothies and Hungarian flat bread pizzas.

There were free events including storytelling on Baycourt's front lawn and the Human Library Project, a social project where people could "check out" other people as you would books, and learn about them through conversation.

The programme included discussion to whet all appetites including debate about current affairs, food, travel, and an insight into New Zealand writers. Speakers included Kiwi chef Peter Gordon, award-winning scientist Siouxsie Wiles and anthropologist Dame Anne Salmond.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A few of us from the Bay of Plenty Times attended some of the sessions on Saturday and Sunday, and everyone was fizzing with excitement about the debates. I could have sat there all day, both days, and listened to every single one. The community seemed to have come out en masse to support the festival - sessions we attended were packed.

At 10am yesterday people were queuing for the discussion on crime between Judge Paul Mabey QC and author and journalist Steve Braunias. One man joked he had forgone a family brunch to attend, with his mate jesting that he wanted tips on how to kill the mother-in-law.

Hats off to festival director Claire Mabey and her team for putting on such an excellent programme and bringing the community together - inspiring us to talk, think and create.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Discover more

Editorial: Unfair to lash out at staff

31 May 08:30 AM

Editorial: Schools deserve better

02 Jun 07:00 AM

Editorial: Brexit a leap into unknown and 'here be monsters'

03 Jun 10:25 PM

Editorial: Hobbies for kids worth the cost

14 Jun 07:30 AM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Knew he was gone': Truck driver describes cyclist he'd hit lying on ground

01 Jul 07:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Customs seizes 150kg of cocaine bricks marked 'good luck' in Tauranga

01 Jul 05:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Zespri teams up with Dame Lisa Carrington

01 Jul 03:30 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Knew he was gone': Truck driver describes cyclist he'd hit lying on ground

'Knew he was gone': Truck driver describes cyclist he'd hit lying on ground

01 Jul 07:00 AM

A judge says the truck driver wasn't at fault, as the road markings lacked clarity.

Customs seizes 150kg of cocaine bricks marked 'good luck' in Tauranga

Customs seizes 150kg of cocaine bricks marked 'good luck' in Tauranga

01 Jul 05:00 AM
Zespri teams up with Dame Lisa Carrington

Zespri teams up with Dame Lisa Carrington

01 Jul 03:30 AM
Pedestrian hit by car in Tauranga

Pedestrian hit by car in Tauranga

01 Jul 12:10 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP