Our 14th annual festival of goodness, La Fiesta, did indeed finish with a flourish on Friday evening.
An attentive audience gathered in the garden of the late Gita and Anthony Brooke’s home, Te Rangi, for two sets of Twilight Songs performed by Elizabeth de Vegt and Hamish Jellyman. Featuring the debut of new music written by the dynamic duo, as well as some carefully selected cover songs by female singers and songwriters, it was the perfect swansong for the festival.
The sunset backdrop overlooking our beloved awa under a full moon added natural drama to the occasion. It was wonderful to chat with out-of-town guests in attendance, including a couple from Cambridge, UK, who felt that they had landed in a secret garden of delights. Their only regret was not having booked more time to stay in Whanganui to enjoy our culture and heritage.
I have had a few days off to rest and reflect since the festival wrapped up. Before I say anything else, let me share the most important thing. Thank YOU. To all our supporters, participants, funders, sponsors, and festival partners, you are what makes this festival such a celebration. It is a real joy to bring this to life with all of you each year. I am confident that we can continue to claim that La Fiesta is truly New Zealand’s best women’s fest.
The arrival of Cyclone Gabrielle early on in the festival programme resulted in a few event changes and cancellations, along with continued unseasonal summer weather. However, this disruption was small scale given the cyclone devastation to the east and north of the country, with the ongoing clean-up and recovery challenges that lie ahead.
Like any large-scale event, there is so much work that goes on behind the scenes over many months that most people don’t see. In cases where we had to make changes or cancellations, I acknowledge how disappointing it can feel after all the preparation. Still, despite all of this, I remain ever grateful that we live in an environment where we can participate in festivals and events, given the recent Covid constraints.
It was heartening to meet so many different people during the month of La Fiesta activities and to hear your feedback. This year the festival attracted visitors from all around the country. We were especially fortunate to host the all-women brass band contingent Bras and Brass during the festival who travelled from near and far across both islands. Many of their merry band of women were in town for several days culminating in their Tribute to the Great Women of Rock concert.
Women performers continue to recognise that La Fiesta provides them with a safe place and platform to showcase their talents. With the increasing pressure that has come on New Zealand’s entertainment industry to reduce its exploitation of women, non-binary and trans performers, as well as Māori and culturally diverse creatives, a festival like La Fiesta becomes even more significant in this context.
I am fiercely protective of all of our performers and presenters, and I am especially proud of the positive reputation that La Fiesta continues to develop nationwide as a space of safe holding and positive encouragement for women and girls especially.
Look out for invitations to La Fiesta number 15 coming your way in a couple of months. In the meantime, after a few days off, I’ll continue with business as usual at the Women’s Network.
We deliver a wide variety of services, events and activities that are focused on supporting women through times of change, challenge, and celebration, as well as times of transition and trauma. Behind the scenes we are engaged in a host of partnership projects and initiatives across the community that are focused on enhancing safety and wellbeing, as well as improved health outcomes, particularly those relating to maternal and reproductive health, and general consumer advocacy.
There is still work to do nationally and globally relating to gender equity, particularly with the international recognition and research about how much the impact of Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted women, even more so when culture and ability are added to the mix.
If you have any specific requests, ideas about events or activities that will enrich you personally or help you feel connected to women and to our community, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to drop me a line via womnet.whanganui@gmail.com or leave a message via our Women’s Network Whanganui Facebook and Instagram pages.
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