Spark festival ends on high note

Spark Festival drew record numbers of speakers and audiences to this year's events. Photo Geoff Ridder.

Wintec’s Spark International Festival of Creativity and Design ended on a high note last week setting a benchmark for collaborative creative events in Hamilton city.

Spark director Megan Lyon says an estimated 3,000 students, creative industry people and members of the public attended 39 events during Spark this year.

“We had more speakers, more attendees and more people watching online this year as we live-streamed events on the Spark Facebook page and that meant more people than ever before were able to tap into the minds of experienced creatives and influencers,” says Megan.

“Successful collaborations with other Hamilton events during Spark week brought a diverse range of creative and literary events together which strengthened  our networks and added to the creative energy of the city. We create more impact when we work together and our audiences benefit from the collaboration of events.”

Spark collaborations this year included a New Zealand Institute of Architect’s public talk, Hamilton Book Month events, Pecha Kucha Hamilton, Chow:Hill Architects Design Industry breakfast and exhibitions at Weasel and Tacit galleries. This year a new event, Choir with Benefits attracted a new audience.

Spark drew 22 speakers from New Zealand and across the globe this year. Speakers travelled  from the USA, Toronto, Melbourne, Sydney and from around New Zealand. A number of Wintec graduates returned to inspire Spark attendees and give some valid advice about working in the creative sector.

Wintec students packed  out a record number of 18 workshops during the event. The majority were at capacity or nearly full.

“These events  function as our new classroom for creatives and having industry experts in front of our students and communities creates authentic learning experiences,” says Megan.

Wintec design tutor Rebekah Harman says Spark was an injection of creativity and of enormous value to her students.

“Spark is an opportunity to tap into the minds of creatives from all around the world to see what it means to be a creative in 2018 and beyond.”

Rebekah says that many of the fashion students particularly enjoyed hearing from Sara Radin, based in New York, on what the trend prediction industry is all about and how it impacts on what we wear. 

“Sara's expertise is in youth culture, helping fashion labels to determine what the youth of today will want ahead of time. Everything from why avocado on toast is so popular at the moment (with commentators discussing gentrification of food and deforestation due to high demand for avocados), to how millennial pink became a 'thing' in Sara's workshop 'How to spot a trend',” says Rebekah.

“Many of our students commented on how the Spark festival enabled them to envision different careers that they had never considered before.” 

Wintec design student and Spark design intern Alice Leonard was impressed with the number of speakers who took the time to educate and interact with their audience.

“This year’s Spark festival had a really fun and interactive vibe, it was packed full of hands on workshops that really got us thinking and excited about the possibilities of life after Wintec,” says Alice. 

“There were loads of inspiring speakers that took the time to chat and educate us further on the industries they’re working in.”

Next year’s Spark festival is planned for 5-8 August 2019.

Read Four US creatives join a record lineup for Spark Festival.

Read Global creative visionaries line up for Spark Festival.

Read Spark Festival internship gives Wintec student valuable insight into the design world.

Find out about studying towards a career in the creative sector at Wintec.

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