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FESTA returns with a public festival of architecture, design & food

FESTA, the vibrant biennial festival of urban creativity and community, is set once again to bring thousands back into the city centre this Labour Weekend (19-22 October) to experience a reimagined Christchurch and to celebrate the innovative and positive things happening in the city.

This year’s festival explores the interconnections between food and the city. Historically food is the foundation of our urban spaces; it has also played a crucial role in bringing life back into Ōtautahi’s heart, with new and relocated restaurants, community gardens and food trucks keeping the city’s fires burning.

On Saturday 20 October our headline event, FEASTA! – a free and spectacular celebration of food and city-making – will be live for one night only in and around the city’s new public spaces. Artists, musicians, community groups, businesses, over one hundred architecture students from across Australasia, and design and architecture professionals will come together to create Christchurch’s biggest and brightest street party.

FEASTA! explores the themes of The Future of Food, Feeding Waitaha Canterbury, Food Market, Cottage Industries and Public Feasts through large-scale installations, performances, artworks, activities and lots of wonderful things to eat and drink. All of this combines to form a creative and collective reimagining of our city, which the public is invited to.

The Associate Programme, which runs over the course of Labour Weekend, builds on the theme of feasting, and explores food’s role in the urban fabric through workshops, performance, art, talks, tours, family events and more. Some of the highlights include Freerange Press’s symposium hosted by Simon Wilson and featuring a variety of voices working in the foodscape; an outdoor film screening put on by The Community Gardens and Food Resilience network with food from their gardens; a food foraging tour; and a Friday night disco of funk and food.

Save the date and keep your eyes peeled for the full programme and details of our headline extravaganza, FEASTA!. For more information visit festa.org.nz