Festival feel fills the square

Auckland took the first plunge towards a premier arts and cultural festival last night when a capacity crowd of 5900 gathered around a temporary pond in Aotea Square for a pacey concert of opera, modern dance and hip hop.

The normally stark concrete square was turned into a knee-deep pond for The Launching, featuring regional kapa haka teams, the beautiful sound of Pacific Island hip-hop artist Che Fu with backing from the Auckland Philharmonia, the Black Grace dance troupe and a snippet of Gareth Farr's new opera So Far.

The work-in-progress, performed with Inside Out Theatre, was inspired by the poetry of James K. Baxter.

The audience was also treated to an orchestral piece by Douglas Lilburn and to a poem by Allen Curnow.

Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the event, which will be repeated tonight and tomorrow at 8.30 pm.

The organisers have run out of the free festival wristbands that give entry to the event, but last night tickets were still available for the seating in front of the Aotea Centre.

They can be obtained from any Ticketek outlet for $25.

The Launching, partly sponsored by the Herald, is a taste of a premier Auckland Festival planned for 2003 which is to showcase the city's Pacific style with a programme ranging from classical music to digital art.

The organisers are aiming to establish an event comparable in scale to the International Festival of the Arts in Wellington.

A feasibility study has put the cost at between $5 million and $7 million, the bulk of which is expected to come from sponsorship.

The Auckland City Council has given $350,000 to each of two trial festivals this year and next year.

It has given a further $550,000 to the Auckland Festival Trust to develop a full festival in 2003.