Two years ago, the army band won many hearts during the Southern Lakes Festival of Colour, so it was no surprise the musicians had been invited back for the first day of the 2009 festival.
Some of the senior citizens openly admitted they were fearing a barrage of sound at morning tea, but all seemed to enjoy the quintet's 30-minute programme.
It began with an old-time favourite, The Sunny Side of the Street, and galloped on through other popular golden oldies.
"You have brought sunshine with you to Wanaka. Thank you," one resident said afterwards.
About the same time, artist Grahame Sydney was courageously fronting up to his first public screening of his unfinished documentary, Dreaming of El Dorado: The Old Dunstan Rd, at Cinema Paradiso.
Sydney had already had a dress rehearsal before invited festival patrons on Monday night, and told them he was as nervous showing his first film as he had been at his first solo painting exhibition in 1972.
He described himself as "too cowardly to say no" to festival artistic director Philip Tremewan.
The film was one of three new New Zealand works to be presented publicly for the first time yesterday.
The Festival of Colour Trust has spent $75,000 commissioning five works for its biennial festival, which continues until Sunday.
The other new works include choreographer Raewyn Hill's Finders Keepers and Witches Over Wanaka, a theatre work by Flat Out Productions, which both premiered last night.
Also commissioned were a new play, Le Sud, by Dave Armstrong, which premieres at Clyde tonight, and new music by Mike Nock, to be performed in Wanaka on Sunday.
Choreographer Hill said she was grateful for the funding.
"It doesn't always happen so when you get funding, it's special . . . Finders Keepers has been in the process for three years. It has taken that long to get from a non-funded position to a premiere."
