Events Calendar

Aspiring Conversations is a festival of ideas, where key thinkers talk about subjects that are current, controversial and just downright interesting. It builds from the success of the literary, philosophical and political debate programme within the biennial Festival of Colour .

Aspiring Conversations runs October 10th to 12th at the Lake Wanaka Centre and dual sessions over in Queenstown.  Highlights include a special solo performance from Kiwi music legend Tim Finn and two panel discussions, one on ‘Water – how do we balance the competing demands?’, and another panel tackles the subject of ‘Inequality – the growing gap between rich and poor’.

And there are a whole range of other speakers – historian Damien Fenton talks about our war against the Ottoman Turks in the World War One as our first taste of Jihad, and economist Loretta Napoleoni burrows into the Russian banking system and the  financing of terrorism and has just written an e book on the funding of ISIS. And literary legends CK Stead, Dame Fiona Kidman and current poet laureate Vincent O’Sullivan.

All speaker sessions just $15 and an Aspiring Pass for all nine Wanaka sessions is just $130 

To view the programme CLICK HERE

Ticketing Information  

How to buy:

Aspiring Pass available by phone only – please call before October 3rd

ONLINE: Click here to buy tickets for all shows

PHONE: 022 4 TIX NOW (022 4 849 669)
IN PERSON: The Lake Wanaka Centre box office will be open from 9am on Friday 10 October

Queenstown tickets can also be bought in person from The Rees Hotel, Frankton Road (cash sales only).

Location