Hamilton’s ‘misfits’ come out of the shadows for Festival of Weird | CPT PPP Coverage

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Fans of the weird and wonderful, the Festival of Weird in Kirikiriroa is the event for you.

The week of weirdness was planned to run from October 28 to November 4, but it has nothing to do with Halloween – that’s just a weird coincidence.

“Festival of Weird was planned for these dates by accident, or possibly subconsciously. I don’t recall it being the reason, but it worked well, “ said Lauren Kerr-Bell, who is organising the event alongside Sandra Jensen.

“This is the first Festival of Weird, and we want to grow its weirdness factor each year. It might become a bit of a personal creative challenge for us all – how can we ‘out-weird’ each other?” Kerr-Bell said.

The aim of the festival was to highlight more obscure art forms such as street theatre, acrobatics, puppeteering, abstract installations, and performances of underground original music.

Many of the events would be outdoors, but the indoor events were also weirdly wonderful, with improvised cinema, comedy and immersive theatre with audience participation utilising a whole building, a choir and a game show, which may be a first for Hamilton/Kirikiriroa.

The concept of the Festival of Weird was first floated by Mark Servian, chairman of The Riff Raff Public Arts Trust. As a group they talked about Hamilton/Kirikiriroa as often being labelled “uninteresting” there being a narrative that “nothing happens” here.

“This narrative is in stark contrast to the amazing underground artists and creative community we experience regularly and are a part of. So the idea of the festival from its inception is to embrace the connotations of what it means to be a little bit of a misfit creative artist in a city not often associated with the word,” Kerr-Bell said.

As a city, Hamiltonians are no strangers to the abstract and weird, with organisations like McGillicuddy Serious Party – and later Free Lunch Street Theatre in the ‘90s – paving the way for unusual events and outdoor activations.

Zombie Walk is the brainchild of Sandra Jensen, who runs Free Lunch Street Theatre and is a co-organiser of Festival of Weird and former McGillcuddy member.

A majority of the events in the programme have been put together by local creatives, and there would be a mix of new artists and those who were more established.

“A festival like this is an opportunity to show their work to a broader audience. We have incredibly talented creatives here,” Kerr-Bell said.

“From an organisational point of view, we had a lot of entries from creatives and artists who had been experienced practitioners in their previous city or country of origin who have moved to Hamilton/Kirikiriroa.

“It is fantastic to learn more about their craft and creative history. More often than not, they are no strangers to street performance, having been in locations with a strong creative culture and where street performance is embraced.”

Band Chroma from Cymru, Wales would also be performing. The band has played everything from Focus Festival, SXSW Festival Showcases and DMZ Peace Train Festival in Korea. This is more of a low-key event for them and is being presented by the local band Half/Time.

This event is for ‘everyone’. “Some events might be more abstract and some more palatable. But we think there will be a little something for everyone,” Kerr-Bell said.

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