Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Festival Setup (2008)
I always have one big folder of images on my hard drive during the Festival that's just labelled "Festival Setup"; it's the catch-all for photos of people building stuff, wiring things, whipping the whole thing into shape. And it's important, because years later when there's a new crew working on the Festival, it can be that the images are the only record we have of how a certain temporary venue was situated on the site, where the power came from, or how a stage went into Shed 6, and so on. It's also often part of the early publicity for the Festival - giving people the sense that something is happening, in the weeks before shows actually start to happen on stages, building the anticipation. At least, I like to think so!
But it's also a chance to reconnect with this gang of vagabonds, many of whom travel the world working on festivals, and only reappear in Wellington every two years. (I always think you can tell the Festival's back when Danny appears on a Segway...!)
So here's a glimpse at a few of the 2008-era preparations, at venues along the waterfront - TSB Arena, Shed 6 and the Odlins Plaza...
