The coolest festival in town
Kim Manunui and Kona on the Wairakei Estate Ice Rink.
This year the Malcolm Flowers Insurances Taupō Winter Festival celebrates 10 years and the programme, released yesterday, once again presents a mix of community and ticketed events.
By Chris Marshall
The 2025 festival runs from June 27-July 13, and was launched on Tuesday night.
It will include a Bows and Bowties Mid-Winter Ball presented by Le Pine and Co in the Great Lake Centre – something people had been asking about for a long time, said event organiser Nicola de Lautour.
Entertainment at the ball, being run in conjunction with Hilltop School PTA as a fundraiser is being provided by Ella Monnery.
A semi-finalist in The Voice Australia in 2021, Ella has since toured alongside some of Aotearoa's top musical acts, including P-Money, Sola Rosa, and appeared in Synthony, a musical fusion of electronic dance music, live orchestra, DJs, vocalists and immersive visual display.
Other ticketed events include a return of Jacob Rajan’s Guru of Chai, one of Indian Ink Theatre Company’s most loved theatre productions in which the contradictions of modern India, with its iPhones and ancient Gods, come alive. Outrageously funny but also heartbreakingly beautiful, the production features its own live soundtrack.
The New Zealand Highwaymen, legendary elder statesmen of local music (Brendan Dugan, Gray Bartlett, Dennis Marsh and Frankie Stevens) will also breeze into town while Mocktails and Menopause with Petra Bagust, Dr Linda Dear and Meg Cowen explores how to navigate midlife and all that comes with it.
More laughs can be had at the 2mile2good Tuesday Night Laughs while the wealth of free events include the MB Century Opening Night on June 27 with free soup and bread, entertainment, live music and crafts, with the Lions Club train running that night and every night (weather dependent) during the Mercury Light Hub which itself is always a highlight and is this year promising bigger and better installations and projection pieces.
Guru of Chai is one of Indian Ink Theatre Company’s most loved theatre productions.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a winter festival without the Wairakei Estate Ice Rink – a firm family favourite.
Tickets for the MFI Winter Festival go on sale from Monday, May 12 at 10am. The event programme includes a full list of events and activities.
Festival proceeds are used by founders the One Taupō Trust to provide financial assistance to families needing to travel outside of the district to seek specialist medical care.
More than 100 families have received relief since 2015, with about $45,000 now having been distributed in grants since the food and petrol voucher program started, made up of nearly $32,000 in fundraising, topped up with profits from the festival.
The Mercury Light Hub.
Launch night
The 2025 Malcom Flowers Insurances Taupō Winter Festival launch on Tuesday night (May 6) was an opportunity for some involved with the event since its inception to reflect on its longevity thus far.
Festival director and One Taupō Trust board member Nicola de Lautour introduced three speakers to mark the event’s 10-year anniversary – “people that have been involved from the beginning and have been supporting theatre and arts and culture in this town for a long time.”
Chris Johnson, an original founding member of the One Taupō Trust set up to produce the festival, said he and his wife Cathy (a chair of the antecedent Erupt Festival) had recently reflected on a 25-year involvement.
“I remember after Erupt finished talking to a few people about how do you keep this going in this town, because we just couldn't lose it.”
De Lautour’s arrival in Taupō and keenness to get involved had been perfect timing, he said.
“We're fortunate that we have a 25-year history of festivals in this town. It’s had to morph through circumstances and the art climate. But it's pretty strong… I remember saying to Nicola we should only do three or four days, and it's morphed into two weeks but anyway, you run with it, and it's fantastic.”
Kim Manunui, festival brand and logo designer, felt three things to celebrate were the 10 year milestone itself, the money it generated for the One Taupō Trust to put back into the community and that it had something for everyone – which set it apart from sporting events.
“While it does attract out of town visitors, which is really a bonus, it's the Taupō community and residents that actually have the most fun.”
Current chair of the trust, Helene Phillips, said while she was a lover of the visual arts, she also loved performance.
“And the excitement that comes with performance, and that's something that I think the festival really does… it's an opportunity for people to engage in something maybe they haven't done before.
“It also can’t survive without the help of lots and lots of volunteers and people like Chris, who not only sat on the board for a long time, but also made pancakes, for free, every festival for eight years.”
A successful festival gave the trust a chance to be philanthropic, Phillips said.
“Philanthropy is a wonderful, wonderful thing, and this trust is able with the support of the festival to give away some money every year to people in our town who really, really need support. So please come to everything that’s on in July.”