Editorial: Festival brings great opportunities

Linda Hall, Assistant Editor, Hawke's Bay Today.

On Thursday night I sat next to a woman in the Spiegeltent during the fantastic performance of Driftwood Casus Circus who told me she was very tired.

The reason - she had been to the late showing of Yana Alana the night before.
She wasn't complaining about being tired, far from it - she was over the moon that Hawke's Bay had such an incredible arts festival and happy that she had the opportunity to attend some amazing shows.

We swapped stories. I told her about the Readers and Writers event with Lizzie Marvelly and Anna Pierard I had been to the day before and she told me all about the Yana Alana show.

And lucky we are. There's something for everyone at this year's festival.

The Village Green looks amazing and if you haven't had a walk around the labyrinth get in quick as it will be gone tomorrow.

The tape art created by husband and wife team Erica Duthie and Struan Ashby, from Wellington, has drawn a lot of attention from both young and old.

This morning a labyrinth, which has been created by community group will be gifted to Flaxmere.

Struan told me it was fun watching people walk through the labyrinth. He said people often mixed it up with a maze and were expecting to be tricked.

The art work has added to the hive of activity that has been happening around the Village Green in Havelock.

I'm sure restaurants and cafes have enjoyed the benefits of all the people flocking to shows.

Thursday also saw the launch of the 2018 Art Deco Festival programme. Can you believe it has been 30 years since the first Art Deco weekend when there were 14 vintage cars in a parade and seven events including the Gatsby Picnic, which drew just 30 people?

The 2018 event has more than 250 events and 300 vintage cars expected for the parade.
What an incredible achievement for all the people involved over the years to have expanded this event into something that people from all over the world attend.

Here's hoping the Harcourts Hawke's Bay Arts Festival grows just as successfully.

Judging by the enthusiasm I've seen from all those involved I have no doubt it has a huge future.

Lucky us.