Festival vibe takes over Taranaki with RESET 2020 - A Festival for Aotearoa

CRINGE WORTHY! was one of the shows to wow audiences on the first night of the festival. Photo / supplied.

The Taranaki Arts Festival's opening night for RESET 2020 - A Festival for Aotearoa has added to the electric energy around the region.

For the past week Taranaki has hummed with visitors for the 33rd Taranaki Garden Festival and from the reaction to crowds at last night's three opening night performances the festival vibe will continue over the next 10 days.

RESET 2020 opened with the "beautifully detailed, emotionally charged works" Undercurrent by Footnote New Zealand Dance. The company, performing on stage for the first time this year, included five incredibly talented dancers who delighted the close to a sell-out audience, many of whom were in attendance to watch Taranaki dancer, Cheyanne Teka, take to the stage for her first professional performance in the region.

Opunake audiences got groovy with festival favourites CRINGE WORTHY! the dynamic extravaganza created by New Zealand's favourite girl group The Beat Girls, who dished up 80 minutes of side-splitting comedy and songs.

The New Plymouth performance was one of the first festivals shows to sell out, with hundreds of people snapping up tickets early for the Saturday night performance. CRINGE WORTHY! will take to the stage in Inglewood tonight with tickets still available for the last regional show.

The Modern Maori Quartet, performing their show Two Worlds for the first time on Aotearoa home soil, did not disappoint the local crowd. The quartet has been performing Two Worlds around the globe over the past few years, with successful stints in China, Edinburgh, and Australia and their excitement to be performing in front of NZ audiences was obvious.

Two Worlds is a twist on the usual shows that MMQ performs, highlighting the incredible capacity of the performers' acting ability as well as their smooth vocals. The Modern Maori Quartet perform one more night for RESET 2020, with limited tickets still available for tonight.

Suzanne Porter, CEO of TAFT, has been thrilled with the turn of support and the region's appetite for events and performances post Covid-19.

"We began the planning stages for RESET 2020 during the lockdown, back in May when events, festivals and other organisations were cancelling and folding. It has been a rough ride for the industry and all I can say is it's that I am so glad we went bravely ahead.

"Seeing people out there in the audience smiling, spilling out of the venues after the show, and knowing that this festival has helped artists continue performing is extremely rewarding."

Lisa Haskell, Arts Festival manager, says she is proud of what has been brought together under challenging circumstances.

"Arts do thrive here, but we couldn't do this without the support of our sponsors, patrons and funders who believe in the benefits that these events bring to our community."

Lisa has spent the past few days with artists performing in and for schools around Taranaki in between juggling last-minute arrangements.

"We hope children will be inspired, go home and tell mum and dad about the shows, how much they loved them or maybe what was unusual or even weird.

"RESET 2020 programme is full of comedy, theatre, dance and music, we've put together shows with a line-up of something for everyone, and a price point that makes it accessible and affordable too. We've also included a snapshot of some of our local Taranaki talent as well."

All RESET 2020 tickets are $25 and under, making it one of the most affordable ticket options in the current Taranaki events calendar.

It appears that the show does go on for Taranaki, and with another week of performances and fun, everyone can get their end of year festival fix.

RESET 2020 tickets available – www.reset2020.co.nz