Free Festival for Performers, Artists and Musicians Returns

InterACT 2012, New Zealand's Disability Arts Festival will take place from October 25th-27th at Corban Estate Arts Centre in Henderson, Auckland.

Festival Director Paula Crimmens has a strong background in working with special school and theatre groups. An ex Theatre Director from the UK, Paula was working in New Zealand with various groups when she started Interacting, a group to help members of the disabled community access theatre and the arts. In 2007 she attended the Australian equivalent, Awakenings Festival.

‘’My favourite part in Awakenings was the open stage, which was held on a couple of evenings and gave people the opportunity to perform on stage in front of an appreciative audience. It reminded me of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where you can see such a range of theatre from the sublime to the ridiculous. I just loved it".

She says " I thought how great it would be to have a festival in New Zealand that celebrates the disabled community and their unique talents’’.

Through Paula and her InterActing team's passion and determination, the 2011 festival was a huge success with many a star performance, “ We planned the festival to be every 2 years but after the response to last years festival and the buzz it generated from the people who attended we thought it was important to maintain the momentum and create a bigger and better one this year. We have a great line up and I can’t wait to see what people bring to what is in essence their festival”

Performing in this year's festival (amongst others to be confirmed):
•Touch Compass
•Sarah Houbolt
•DANZ Wellington are bringing a hip hop troupe
•Raewyn Turner -http://www.raewynturner.co.nz/ multi media artist who has worked with musicians including Split Enz and is creating two original pieces for the Festival - a performance and an installation.
• Film making with Hank Snell, a Canadian who creates original short films that you can watch on youtube. A tutor in film, Hank has worked with disabled groups in UK and has been running courses for InterAct in NZ
•Phoenix Belly Dance , also running a workshop and performing this year
•Steff Metal who is running a workshop in how to promote yourself on the internet. A gothic wedding planner, Steph describes herself as '' a legally-blind copywriter and heavy metal maiden''.
•Variety Voices Choir, singing pirates, mask making workshops, art displays

For more information check out http://www.interacting.org.nz/festivalwebsite/index.php