Christmas is coming to K’ Road and true to the street’s
subversive reputation, it won’t be in traditional style. Celebrations kick off with the precinct’s signature late night art
event First Thursdays - boasting a fiesta theme this time – in conjunction with
an inaugural light show, Highlights, which will cast a creative spotlight on a
selection of the precinct’s character buildings over ten days.
The sight of the former Rendell’s building shattering and
being reconstructed brick by brick and giant Christmas balls cascading down the
exterior of the adjacent Ironbank complex are just some of the virtual
experiences onlookers can expect to encounter at Highlights.
‘We’ll be making shapes, putting things into shapes and
making things come out of shapes,’ says the light show’s creator Dan
Davis. A digital specialist of four
years standing he’ll be trialling new 3D technology which he hopes will ‘get K’
Road on the map for Christmas and match the area’s creative and forward
thinking culture.’
The light display will focus on different buildings between
Queen and Pitt St each evening with some projections being fused with music
from local café Verona. And launch night
on 5 December is expected to provide a fitting backdrop for the staging of the final
First Thursday’s of the year which will be taking place across three of the
precinct’s arcades including St Kevin’s, La Gonda and Cross St from 6-9pm.
A Mexican flavour will be infusing First Thursdays with a
roaming Mariachi band scheduled, free Day of the Dead face painting on offer
and Mexican folk saint Santa Muerte inhabiting St Kevin’s to dispense sweets.
‘We decided on the theme of fiesta because it encompasses
celebration, festivity, colour and diversity which is what First Thursdays is
all about,’ says event co-ordinator Laura Forest. ‘And our Christmas FirstThursdays will be more about fun and playfulness rather than getting bogged
down with northern hemisphere snowflakes and tradition,’ she says. To this end patrons are invited to negotiate
an interactive tunnel in La Gonda Arcade, engage with a steam punk vending
machine at St Kevin’s Arcade or kiss under a rose bower infused with mistletoe
at the top of the steps to Myers Park.
Laura’s pragmatic festive season sentiments are echoed by
her director of activities in St Kevin’s Arcade, Rose Jackson. Having invited traders from along K’ Road to
provide pop up sales of confectionery and jewellery inside the heritage arcade
as a complement to the variety of vintage, handcraft and designer fashion goods
already on offer there, she believes shoppers will appreciate the opportunity
to take part in a locally-inspired Christmas.
‘You’ll be able to buy from vintage retailers and really clever New
Zealand designers who make their own stuff.’
Conversely, ‘you won’t hear any naff Christmas tunes, be forced to buy
plastic junk or find yourself stuck in a mall,’ she says.
For the full programme of First Thursdays and Highlights
activities visit www.firstthursdays.co.nz
