Luminate is an earth-friendly festival of music, dance, art and culture with a focus on environmental sustainability, intentional community, knowledge sharing, creativity and inspiration.
Music: The line up includes The Barons of Tang, Wild Marmalade, Oka, Ganga Giri, (all from Australia), Newtown Rocksteady, Pacific Curls, Taos, the Nomad, Nigel Gavin & Richard Adams, Emeralds and Greenstone, Amiria Grenell, and many more live acts.
Electronic producers include OTT (Twisted), Emok (Iboga,), James Munro (Flying Rhino), Phony Orphants (Iboga), Loud (Nano), Electrypnose (Digital Psionics), Eitan Reiter (Iboga), Merkaba (Zenon), Hedflux (Broken Robot), Grouch, Tom Cosm and Isaac Chambers.
Jamie Janover (USA) also returns to host several presentations on quantum science.
Many more acts are to be announced soon. The genres include a range of live music from World Grooves, Gypsy, Celtic, Roots, Reggae, Folk, Soul, to Funk & Fusion, plus Dub, Breaks, Psytrance, Minimal Tech, House, Progressive, Glitch, Dubstep, Ambient, Esoteric beats and more...
With a solid reputation for delivering a stunning line up of international and New Zealand artists, offering a broad diversity of live & electronic genres, its safe to say that music and dance is an important feature of the atmosphere at Luminate. However the vision for Luminate runs even deeper and manifests as an incredible array of activities on offer throughout the week, providing an authentic and diverse festival experience for all ages.
Community Vision: Luminate aims to meet the traditional human need for people to gather together from far and wide, sharing knowledge, stories, creativity, healing, contemporary and traditional arts & culture, celebration and connection; all of which strengthens community networks, generates inspiration, encourages personal growth and empowers people with new skills to improve their quality of life.
Workshops:
Fundamental to the ethos of Luminate is a full schedule of knowledge and inspirational sharing sessions (workshops), including permaculture, alternative energy, yoga, african drumming, quantum science, sacred geometry, dance & movement, traditional diets, holistic health, creative arts, music production, reflexology, harakeke, maori & celtic song, mayan calendar, and lots more.
The dedicated Juggle-Poi-Toy zone hosts sessions on everything from juggling, poi, hula hoops, stilts, slackline, staff, diablo and fire performance. There’s heaps of other activities for the kids too including games, storytelling and crafts. At night you can find a range of enlightening movies & docos.
The Healing Hub offers massage, reiki and a range of alternative therapies & workshops. The Tribal zone hosts acoustic drumming & native instruments in a wonderland of organic sculpture and much barefoot dancing around the fire. The Buskers stage is a place for anyone to perform and be entertaining.
Browse the market for hand made arts & crafts, relax with a coffee or chai, and sample a wide range of delicious meals and treats of global cuisine, mostly vegetarian and organic.
Environmental initiatives: Luminate has developed a number of unique environmental initiatives which aim to inspire people to take responsibility for the reality we are all co-creating. There are no rubbish bins or recycling on site, and everyone needs to be prepared to pack out what you bring in and leave no trace. Festival participants are encouraged to byo plates and cups for the food stalls as there no disposables, and things are made easy with public dishwashing facilities. Enjoy the eco showers and composting loos.
Luminate is also a non-alcohol event, a factor that not only reduces the potential for rubbish, but also plays an important role in keeping the event safe for families, and the atmosphere peaceful and relaxed.
Location
Aside from the wide range of features on offer at Luminate, the land itself at Canaan Downs is stunning, with spacious camping in 200 acres of pristine native bush and pasture, with quartz, limestone and marble outcrops, 2000 ft up Takaka hill. It’s an idyllic camping holiday with entertainment and activities thrown in! Bring bikes to explore the festival site, and for the more adventurous there are several mountain bike tracks on neighbouring DOC land, some of the best in New Zealand.
Timing
Timed to synchronise with the ancient seasonal festival of Lughnasadgh, Luminate falls midway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox, when our ancestors would give thanks to the earth mother for the abundance of the food harvest.
Day one (wed 1st Feb) is a settling in day, if you'd like to arrive early, set up camp, chillax, go for a bush walk or cycle, find the stream, enjoy the natural surroundings.
Markets open and schedule of workshops start Thursday 2nd Feb from 10am, and music zones start after the opening ceremony at sunset. The live stage opens on Friday at 10am. The festival gently winds up with the full range of zones open from Friday to Monday night, and then gently winds things down until closing on Wednesday.
Tickets:
Early Bird Summer Special tickets ($155) are available until 5th January, after which the Standard pre sales price applies ($185). Youth tickets (14-17 yrs) are $85. Kids 13 and under gain free admission, and seniors over 75 are free. Entrance to workshops and camping is included.
Tickets are available online from Eventfinder, Cosmic Corner, Everyman Recs (Nelson), Arcadia Organics (Motueka), GB Organics (Takaka), and Planet Funk (Greymouth).
