Canterbury Tales

Today we were going out to the Ilam gardens when I was ready to go John informed me he wasn't going until 4:00pm. So I took a walk around the city and come across the puppets for the procession tonight.. was to be last night was well. They were just about to put them together for tonight, so only saw the workings of them which was interesting. Just got back before 4:00pm and so had to rush out again so that is why I have a late blip tonight.

Last night I waited with my friend Sue to see the the procession of large puppets and masked performers leave from Bridge of Remembrance and follow a specific path through the central city at night: along the river to Worcester Bridge before ending at the heart of the city in Cathedral Square. After waiting for over a hour, found out because of the strong winds they couldn't go. Not sure if the wind tonight is going to be too strong for them as well!

They are all about a collaborative exploration of the city.

Before the procession, visit the Interior and Spatial Design Studio from UTS in Sydney on Worcester Bridge. The Studio are using tarpaulin collected from homes damaged in the 2011 earthquake to construct a spatial living archive that takes the shape of a storm. Come and explore the installation where the stories and experiences of the people of Christchurch creates a temporary urban interior, but one that is amidst a storm.

Free Theatre’s procession begins in the Pacific: an interactive environment where local performance group Pacific Underground and Highlight (Architecture Department, Unitec) engage with the Samoan holiday Lotu Tamaiti or White Sunday, a community celebration of childhood.

After passing by a river installation designed by Lincoln Landscape Architecture students, the procession moves to an urban scenography on the Worcester Bridge where local experimental artists perform within an interactive environment built and inhabited by Interior and Spatial Design students from the University of Technology Sydney.

From there the path leads us through the installations ‘Anamorphic Shadows’ and ‘Illuminate’ (developed by Unitec students) up to the Cathedral, where a play between karanga and fanfare performed by Ngai Tahu artists and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra calls the procession into the square. Along the way watch out for mobile shelters, from Unitec’s Department of Design and Visual Arts, unfolding from clothes, suitcases or backpacks.

Along the journey expect to find beverages and tasty fare from some of Christchurch’s favourite watering holes:

The Darkroom, Cassels and Sons, The Twisted Hop, Black Betty and Smash Palace.
Taken from for more info