Brian Rudman: We've made it for AK05, but what about 07?

Who said there's no such thing as a miracle. It's Friday, February 25, and unless the Civic underground carpark collapsed overnight and sucked the surrounding entertainment venues down into the void, the Auckland Festival AK05 is under way.

For that, bouquets to a former Auckland City councillor, the indefatigable Victoria Carter, current councillor Scott Milne, casualties along the way such as Lex Henry and Simon Prast, and the new leaders, chairman Richard Waddel and chief executive David Malacari.

In September 2003 I greeted AK03 in much the same way, noting how anorexic the programme was, but saying who cared, the important thing was that the latest attempt by Auckland to have a festival was finally under way.

Eighteen months and a night of the long knives on, the programme is rather fatter, and with one festival already under our belts there's a certain hint of permanence about the enterprise.

Certainly this week's claimed rush to the box office by last-minute Auckland ticket buyers adds hope to those of us wanting the enterprise to survive and grow.

But in welcoming its second miraculous reincarnation, I would add the caution that one miracle is better than most enterprises get, let alone two, and unless we bed the festival in securely this time round the chances of lucking it out yet again in 2007 are bleak.

Without dwelling on the merits of the entertainments programmed for the next two weeks, many of which I'm looking forward to, I've always felt that future success for the festival depends on Auckland playing to its strength as the capital, both culturally and population-wise, of Polynesia.

With international arts festivals now embedded in most larger cities of the world, all serviced by a conveyor-belt of travelling acts, if we want to stand out from the Wellingtons and the Perths and attract overseas visitors, we need that point of difference, and the more exotic the better.

I remember suggesting a Festival of the Pacific Rim, where we could attract works and performers of excellence from the nations bordering the Pacific. This was a way of blending the Polynesian with influences from the East, the Americas and even Russia.

This whole debate rather got lost over the past four years, overwhelmed by the fight for survival.

The great thing is, we have an exotic point of difference already in place. Twice over. All that's needed is a bit of coming together. A blending of our existing cultural festivals to create a month of fun potentially as unique as the great carnivals of Latin America.

With AK05 now moved to its new late summer spot, it has muscled into the month already staked out by this point of difference - two longstanding events, the Pasifika Festival and the Secondary Schools Maori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival.

Though conducted on the smell of an oily rag, they are both hugely popular events. The schools festival, which began at Hillary College, Otara, in 1976 to provide a showcase for young Polynesians' pride in their cultural identity, is now billed as the largest Polynesian festival in the world.

The Western Springs-based Pasifika Festival is the grown-ups' equivalent of the kids' festival and last year attracted upwards of 170,000 people.

In a report to Auckland City in June last year, Pasifika project manager Mere Lomaloma Elliott envisioned Pasifika becoming "internationally acclaimed as the festival where one could experience the many dimensions of Pacific culture, becoming a magnet not only to visitors from all over New Zealand but from other parts of the world".

To achieve that, though, it's going to need the organisational skills and professionalism and funding that a combined Auckland festivals organisation could bring.

I'm not for a moment suggesting we toss out the international fare of visiting music and theatre groups that I, for one, look forward to and which, I guess, represent the Pakeha portion of the Auckland cultural mix.

But sharing a joint catalogue, as well as the marketing, ticketing and organisational expertise that goes with a big festival, can only strengthen the occasion for all involved. Especially overseas culture vultures intrigued at the thought of a little kapa haka with their Mozart. 

AK05 Festival highlights

Opening day programme

The Death of Klinghoffer - One chance only to catch John Adams' dramatic two-act opera based on the 1985 tragedy of the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and murder of Leon Klinghoffer. With Jared Holt, Wendy Dawn Thompson, David Griffiths; accompanied by the Chapmann Tripp Opera Chorus & the NZSO. Town Hall, 7.30pm.

Tutus on Tour - The Royal New Zealand Ballet presents a stunning showcase of short works, including Shona McCullagh's Verge and the gorgeous wedding pas de deux from Romeo & Juliet. Bruce Mason Centre, tonight & tomorrow, 7.30pm.

Bugs Bunny on Broadway - What's up doc? Bugs, Wile E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and cronies on the big screen, while the Auckland Philharmonia plays all the classic show toons. A worldwide hit. The Civic, tonight, 8pm & tomorrow, 3pm & 8pm.

Strata - Kirk Torrance's play about two brothers in the West Coast mines in the late 1800s. Winner of the 2003 Chapmann Tripp Theatre Award for most original production, outstanding new playwright, most promising new director. Herald Theatre, 7.30pm (to Mar 2).

Cabaret Decadanse - aka the Ultimate Puppet Show for Adults, featuring two Montreal puppeteers manipulating Mauve the Starlet, Lorraine the Diva, Conrad the transvestite and Kiko the Latin lover. Town Hall concert chamber, 10.30pm & tomorrow 7.30pm & 10.30pm.

Jack & the Beanstalk - last time Michael Hurst appeared as the Widow Twankey in AK03's Aladdin, families flocked into the St James by the hundreds. St James, 6pm (to Mar 6).