Lights set to shine brighter this season

Hybycozo Hybycozo

NPDC’s Events team have pulled out all the stops to make this season’s TSB Festival of Lights bigger and better than ever. 

Starting on 14 December and running for seven weeks, the numbers speak for themselves: 125,000 visitors each summer, 14 new light features, more than 50 live acts, 24 Summer Scene Kids’ events, 7 activities for Summer Seniors, 4 bands for the Powerco Lights Up The Night New Year’s eve celebration and one Woofstock party for pooches! 

Located in the world-class Pukekura Park, the lights come on every night until 1 February from 8.30pm to 11pm, rain or shine. 

“The team has done an absolutely fabulous job in bringing new and highly original displays to our stunning Pukekura Park for this season’s TSB Festival of Lights,” says NDPC Recreation and Culture Manager Teresa Turner. “There are 14 new light features — a new record for the festival — and visitors will be dazzled, delighted and entertained.

“We’re also thrilled to be bringing five displays to our festival this year which have been showcased at the international light show, Vivid Sydney.”

The 14 new light features are:

Regal Peacock
Spreading his brightly-coloured, illuminated feathers wide, the Regal Peacock will dazzle festival-goers. The display has sound, movement and light animations.

Trumpet Flowers
You’ll feel as if you’ve shrunk when you enter this super-sized trumpet flower garden. Press the buttons to make your own music. 

Trilogy
Trilogy lets you use your hands to draw with light. Featuring three light pillars, you and your friends can create your own visual masterpieces. 

Push My Buttons
It’s up to you to decide how this light is feeling today… press one of the three buttons then watch as it lights up to reflect the mood you’ve chosen! 

Parrot Party
As you get nearer, these parrots grow happy and excited, raising their voices in song and radiating colourful light.

Time Beam
Multiple light towers made from repurposed plastic containers, illuminated and hanging from the trees of Pukekura Park.

HYBYCOZO
Welcome to HYBYCOZO; the Hyperspace Bypass Construction Zone. You’ll be drawn in by these stunning large-scale installations, which investigate geometry through light, shadow, and perception.

UVtopia
You’ll be positively glowing in UVtopia! Step inside and experience the wonder of the Fernery and Display Houses, lit by UV lighting at night.

Birds of Lumos
Watch as these wonderful kiwi come to life, glowing and pulsating different colours through their light-globe bodies.

Droplet
Droplet is a light drawing of microscopic organisms, suspended within a droplet of water.

Bridge of Rock
It’s time to rock out on Poet’s Bridge. Catchy riffs and melodies combine with an epic light show to create something rock-tacular. 

Love Birds
Gliding above you, these love birds flutter with colour and light in the wind. Walk below the canopy and be immersed by the motion of the birds.

Visitors
Watch as the forest comes to life in a spectacular sound and light show that is out of this world.  

Dream Tree
Awe-inspiring light and colour effects bring one of Pukekura Park’s oldest trees to life.

We’ve got something for everyone:

Summer Scene Kids
Load your summer holidays with daytime events that inspire, entertain and excite kids from five to 12 years old. A highlight is Splash Fest – a week of pool parties around Taranaki including Waitara, Inglewood, Okato and Todd Energy Aquatic Centre. 

Summer Seniors
The programme for seniors has become a mainstay of the festival and this year has rock’n’roll at the Bowl, Tai Chi, art in the park and the chance to learn creative floral design.

Woofstock
Pooches are invited to the park on 18 January for the first ever Woofstock! Dogs will be dressed up in 60s outfits and there will be prizes for best-dressed dog as well as Pilates for Paws and Parkour.

Festival Hub
Light Bites went down a treat last year and returns with food trucks in the Festival Hub. Also in the Hub will be VR (virtual reality) experiences thanks to TSB, a rock’n’roll pop-up, a roller disco pop-up and free Wifi thanks to Primo. 

Entertainment
From 26 December to 19 January, more than 50 home-grown, Kiwi and international acts will entertain festival-goers at the Hatchery and Fred Parker lawns. See the event programme (coming to your letterbox) or head to festivaloflights.nz for all the details.

New Year’s Eve
The Powerco Light Up The Night event features silent discos, food trucks and four live bands. It will be an epic New Year’s Eve with Pukekura Park the place to be for friends and family to see in 2020.

Highlights for this year’s event include major headline act Racing. Formed from The Checks, this Auckland band is a two-time Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards winner for best rock album and were nominated for best rock artist in this year’s awards. They’ve shared the stage with Oasis, REM, The Hives, AC/DC, The Killers and Muse on different tours, and will be rocking in the New Year on the Hatchery Lawn from 10.45pm. 

Other live music includes local artist Ny Oh, who played Glastonbury this year; local musicians Tobetones and the Breaks who play ‘70s and ‘80s soul with a live DJ; and Auckland’s Brendon Thomas and the Vibes who play classic rock.

The ever-popular silent disco returns to the Fred Parker Lawn, with a timeslot for children at 7pm and for adults from 8.30pm. A kids’ countdown will take place at 8pm, and Light Bites food trucks will be running from 6.30pm ‘til late in the Festival Hub. 

This year’s event is being sponsored by Powerco and CEO Nigel Barbour says it is exciting to be part of the event, as well as supporting the festival as a whole.

“At Powerco, keeping the lights on and supporting our local communities is what we’re all about,” he says. “We’re proud to be powering the event which offers Taranaki people and visitors the opportunity to experience electricity in interactive ways.”

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