Suffering from festival fatigue?

By GILBERT WONG, arts editor

Sick of shuffling through the throngs in subtropical heat? Wondering if a weekend spent lolling on the deck with a cool drink contemplating the garden might be a good thing? You may well be suffering from festival fatigue.

We've had Pasifika at Western Springs and The Launching (review inside), the taster for the proposed Auckland Festival in 2003, in Aotea Square.

It doesn't end there. From Friday, Auckland's Asian communities go public with the annual Festival of Asia. This is its third outing in the city and Hamiltonians can catch it in their city on Sunday.

While the numbers it attracts have yet to match Pasifika, the mix of local and overseas performers offers similar distractions: exotic food; performers we aren't likely to see on television; and, perhaps most importantly, the chance for a minority community to feel a sense of pride and belonging in its city.

The multitude of festivals Auckland already has does raise the question of what exactly the Auckland Festival for 2003 should be.

Focus groups have suggested that Auckland audiences are leery of an event branded as an arts festival with a capital A.

In deference to that, festival organisers have opted for the feelgood statement that it should celebrate the city's place in the Pacific - which other festivals already do.

Whoever takes on the job of creative director will need to bring a singular vision for an Auckland Festival and be given the freedom to carry it through.