Youth Arts festival launches in Kaitaia

Participants at last year's Northland Youth Summit Arts Festival celebrating their collective creativity. Picture / Creative Northland

For three days from tomorrow, Kaitaia's Te Ahu Centre and nearby Te Hiku Youth Space will be filled with the sights and sounds of creativity as 88 young people from all over Northland take part in eight hands-on workshops led by 15 tutors, assisted by eight workshop mentors and supported by numerous youth workers, assistants, volunteers, and the event team of Creative Northland.

The Northland Youth Summit Arts Festival 2019 is largely sponsored by Creative New Zealand, with educational sponsorship from NorthTec and additional sponsorship and support from the Electoral Commission, North Haven Hospice, NorthPower, Spotlight Whangārei, Sew Good and TPK.

The intensive and immersive three-day event includes transport, catering, marae accommodation, cultural and group/team experiences, all thanks to generous sponsorship, the participants needing only to contribute some creative skills.

The workshops are:

■Visual arts/painting, facilitated by Lorraine King.

■Toi Māori/carving and weaving, Te Hemo Ata Henare and Poutama Henare.

■Creative technologies, Hans Kim, Krishna Dudumpudi and Nandoun Abeysekera (Mass Design).

■Wearable arts, Shelly Matiu and Chloe King.

■Video/digital screen, Kevin Etherington, Raewyn Barry and John Fraser (Facebox).

■Music, Jesse Samu and Scott Wynne.

■Dance, Jenn Ruka and Leshaan Tanagriki Pou.

■Theatre and performance, Georgia May Russ and Lutz Hamm.

This will be the sixth Northland Youth Summit Arts Festival, marketing and event co-ordinator Briar Fabian saying over the years it had been refined and progressed to its present hands-on participatory level, culminating in each workshop performing, exhibiting or screening original pieces for the public, with this year's theme Navigating our visions for a shared future.

The festival will be followed by exhibitions in Whangārei and Russell, and a showcase at the Bernina Northland Fashion Awards as part of a partnership with Creative Northland, a professional studio recording of music compositions, and further workshops for dance, performance and 3D projection mapping.

The public will be welcome at the final performances at Te Ahu on Friday, starting 1.30pm.