Wānaka’s Festival of Colour opened on Saturday with a community whānau day featuring cultural food stalls and free performances.
Organisers, performers and food stall owners were there before 10am to set up the stage and stalls at Dinosaur Park, in Lakeside Rd.
Families, individuals and groups of friends made their way to the park to enjoy the festival opening, with many coming from Queenstown and other parts of the region.
This was followed by secondary school bands, including Instant Referral and Superficial, showcasing their best covers and original songs.
The whānau day performances ended with cultural groups from Queenstown such as the Wasabi choir, the Qampi Filipino Cultural Dance Group and Capoeira Central Otago, who performed Brazilian martial arts and music.
To further celebrate the region’s cultural diversity Mexican, Argentinian, Japanese, Filipino and Brazilian stalls were serving food until about 3pm.
Festival of Colour artistic director Sophie Kelly highlighted the importance of having a community day.
"It’s a day to connect, enjoy and embrace the unique creative spirit that makes Wānaka such a vibrant place to live."
As the community day began, other events were starting across town including Tōrua, an interactive dance performance made up of seven dancers from across the country.
Although the community day ended just after 3pm, activities and events continued with Creative Juices, an open mic event, taking place from 7.30pm at the Crystal Palace for local creatives to display their music and writing.
The Festival of Colour runs until April 6.
