Christchurch has reason to celebrate as the city’s entertainment scene comes alive with the start of the Christchurch Arts Festival.

The biennial Festival will run every weekend from August 12 to October 2, featuring a programme of contemporary and classical music, dance, theatre, visual arts, food and ideas.

The ability of the city to stage a Festival on this scale was seriously in doubt after the devastating February 22 earthquake. Festival Director Philip Tremewan says, “After we digested the tragedy and loss of physical infrastructure, it became clear that just when it couldn’t have been more difficult to hold a Festival, the need for it had never been greater.”

The Festival’s initial hub for the 2011 Festival, the Arts Centre, is unusable as are the bulk of the city’s performance venues. The Festival staff are onto their third office – the first was damaged in the September 4 earthquake and the second, on February 22.

But some creative thinking and the enormous support of sponsors has meant that venues have been found across the city from Aranui to Akaroa and ticket prices have been kept at the incredibly low price of $20 (plus service fees) for all shows.

Tremewan says, “It was so important to make this Festival as accessible as possible. The Christchurch City Council have got right behind it and the Events Village in Hagley Park will be our new home base, with many school theatres also being used – bringing arts into every corner of the city.”

International highlights include international acts like MacHomer – an astonishing one-man show melding Macbeth with The Simpsons; the hilarious award-winning show Spontaneous Broadway, Brazil’s Ná Ozzetti, Australian musicians Jeff Lang and Linsey Pollak with his family show Passing Wind - which is also travelling to the West Coast - and, exclusive to Christchurch Arts Festival, Scottish Opera’s Baby O.

The city itself has provided inspiration for four shows: Christchurch Memorial, a powerful brass band and percussion concert that will feature a new commission by New Zealand Gareth Farr; Christchurch Sings – a massive choral event with 500 singers including the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir on the anniversary of the September earthquake, Tilt – where dancers play out the difficulties of living in a constantly changing environment by performing on a moving floor; and Random Acts of God, an uplifting contemporary cabaret that shows how people can react when life throws them a curve ball.

The programme also showcases home grown talent like Liam Finn, The Phoenix Foundation and Lawrence Arabia, Kiwi love stories in theatre productions Raising the Titanics and He Reo Aroha, local Christchurch acts in The Thursday Sessions music showcase, and three special concept shows: Electric Wire Hustle Family – a show that brings the pioneering young psychedelic hip hop and soul act out with their parents, including legendary blues guitarist Billy TK; Fathers and Sons – another family act pairing famous duos like Che Fu and his dad, former Polynesian Panther Tigi Ness; and Songs to Leave Behind – where Don McGlashan, Julia Deans and Anna Coddington will reveal the music that has influenced them the most.

Since tickets went on sale on July 11 there have already been several sell-outs, including Richard Till’s Kiwi Kitchen Table Banquets and Rita and Douglas, starring Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Houstoun.

An extensive schools programme has also meant that both primary and secondary school students will be served up some entertainment and inspiration, from storytelling to digital music workshops.

The appetite for the arts has never been stronger in Christchurch.

Full programme and Festival details.