Nestled in the impressive harbour of Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula, is picturesque town Akaroa. Photo: supplied
An hour and a half drive from Ōtautahi Christchurch, Akaroa has a rich and colourful history. There’s a strong touch of the French, who intended to make it a colony back in the late 1830s. Nearby, Ōnuku marae is home to the hapū of Ngāi Tārewa and Ngāti Īrakehu, where events seeded the founding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi).
A popular resort town, there is a biannual Akaroa French Festival (the next in Spring 2025) but many residents in the area are active in the arts year round. A number of beautiful gardens feature sculpture and are open to the public. As well as many historic buildings, churches and homes there is a cinema, the Edwardian Gaiety Theatre and several popular museums and galleries. Coming up in November is the Akaroa Readers and Writers Festival.
A proud citizen of Akaroa, Lesley Burkes-Harding has been on the Akaroa Community Arts Council, with production designer husband John Harding, since 2015. They have even designed, written and directed a play that provides a historical reenactment of the mana whenua and European immigrant foundations of the town, where residents get to represent their ancestors. Landings was produced on Akaroa beach as part of the Akaroa French Festival, and they intend to present it again
Landings at Akaroa Photo: supplied
Lesley Burkes-Harding has a 35-year career in professional costume design. She trained in the UK prior to coming to NZ and has worked on hundreds of plays, operas, musicals, feature films and TV series, including working on the likes of Avatar, The Hobbit and as costume designer on a new film we featured last week on Culture 101, Head South.
She joins us on Culture 101 for this week’s Regional Wrap.
Landings at Akaroa Photo: supplied
