The name evokes mixed emotions when heard by most in Oamaru - happiness, sadness, excitement and respect no doubt among them.
The Waitaki Arts festival, which starts today and runs until October 20, prominently features the author, who based several of her novels on the North Otago town.
Attractions focused on Frame, who died in 2004, include a stage adaptation of her novel Owls Do Cry, published in 1957.
Red Leap Theatre will premiere its production on Friday and present a second show on Saturday.
Rather than retell the book, the play presents the story through a physical and visual contemporary style.
That is followed by a Janet Frame's Oamaru tour on Sunday, which includes a visit to 56 Eden St, where the Frame family lived between 1931 and 1944.
Festival director Frances McElhinney said the adaptation of Owls Do Cry was a ``particularly special'' production and she was excited to have it in Oamaru.
She said after the success of the first arts festival in 2017, it was appropriate to spread it further afield.
``I am really excited about bringing shows into Kurow and Hampden. The vision was for us to reach a bit further, because it is the Waitaki Arts Festival.
Community events, such as Art on Bikes and a movie night at the Oamaru Public Gardens, were also also ``really important''.
Mrs McElhinney said there was plenty of buzz around this year's festival.
The full programme for the festival can be found on the Oamaru Opera House website.
