Robert Catto, Photographer - Superb, Professional Photography for Business and the Arts in Sydney, Australia

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Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Festival Picnic (2004) & Nouvelle Vague (2008)

Pukekura Park
Pukekura Park
Pukekura Park
Pacific Blue Festival Club
Pacific Blue Festival Club
Pacific Blue Festival Club

A quick couple of events today - one of our outdoor regional events in 2004, part of a series of Festival Picnics we did in Upper Hutt, Porirua and at Frank Kitts Park in town.  (There may have been more I'm not remembering, too!)  This one had a series of performances over a few stages, including Pacific drummers, bands, a British comedian, and - as you can see - Korean tightrope walkers & drummers!  Nice to see some of the staff from that era out enjoying the sunshine, too - we all spend too much time in dark venues!

Second is the Nouvelle Vague concert at the Festival Club in 2008, which I think is one of those shows everyone remembers being at (even if they weren't - though in fairness, they did do four nights).  A French band who do Bossa Nova covers of Eighties New Wave songs, they had the crowd dancing from about the first song - chairs were thrown aside pretty quickly, as I recall.  (And I WAS there, obviously, because I took photos!)

Still some of my favourite albums I picked up after a Festival show, and I saw them again in Sydney a couple of years ago now - in a MUCH bigger venue, though.  Hard to beat the intimate setting of the Festival Club!