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A village of temporary shelters (designed and fabricated from waste materials), where skilled craftspeople undertake high quality crafts that are zero waste in nature; a hands-on activity for kids where they create ‘mutant monsters’ from the parts of old toys; a pop-up restaurant in a bespoke pavilion where diners encounter the full food system; a human talking books session, where people pick a title and explore its subject via a twenty-minute conversation with a passionate expert;  a spectacular temporary city, where waste materials are transformed into beautiful installations, which in turn transform vacant sites in and around the Christchurch Art Gallery so that the public can experiecnce a bold, reimagined Christchurch.

These are just some of the way FESTA explores this year’s theme We Have the Means, in a celebration of urban creativity and regeneration that takes place this Labour Weekend. From 21 to 24 October, the festival highlights resourcefulness – making the most of the means available to us, in terms of our people and reusable materials – with a myriad of activities in Christchurch city that are open to all.

There are over 30 events to participate in, from speaker sessions, dinner and dancing and workshops through to city-making tours and the live-making of art works. Kids can get creative by making a costume from reused materials or at a Gap Filler workshop where they can help make a colourful kinetic installation from upcycled paint cans. The SuperWOW disco transforms the Dance-O-Mat into a disco for one night, and PechaKucha Night is the closing event, featuring festival participants in its popular, catchy presentation style

On Saturday 22 October, Christchurch’s biggest, most creative street party is taking place. FESTA’s headline event, Lean Means, a spectacular temporary city, explores the sustainable ways we could regenerate our city with a night of colour, light and people. In an international collaboration involving Creative Director Jos de Krieger, of Superuse Studios, and students from seven leading design and architecture schools from across Australasia, inner city spaces are transformed with imaginative installations fabricated from reused ‘waste’ materials. This city will be packed with food, music, performance, markets, a wearable art parade for kids, a night market and much more.

Please visit our website for more details. festa.org.nz

Any media or image enquiries, please contact emma@festa.org.nz

Festival director Jessica Halliday is available for interview.

To learn more about FESTA, watch this video.

To learn more about Lean Means, please watch this video.