Celebrating the restoration of a Wellington cultural institution
We were thrilled to be invited to take part in the celebrations for the re-opening of the St James Theatre in the centre of Wellington. It’s been closed for three years getting earthquake strengthened, so it was brilliant to be included in the wide range of performance groups taking part.
We began with a small group of drummers and dancers parading through town towards the St James, meeting up with parades of other performance groups approaching from all directions to kick off the celebrations.
Throughout the evening, many of Wellington’s rich and varied treasure trove of singers, dancers and performance groups of all kinds entertained the crowds outside the theatre. Wellington Batucada was honoured to be chosen to provide the final show of the evening.
You’ll see from Tommy’s video (below) that we were squished onto a stage that was approximately half the size comfortable for a band as big as ours, but that’s cool – it was super-cosy and just so great to be up on stage again after so many gig-free months during the Covid hiatus.
Enjoy! You’ll see that we did…
Wellington Batucada at the grand re-opening of the St James Theatre, Wellington
Video by Tommy Etuata
Epic Wellington Batucada group photo!
Video by Tommy Etuata
Photo gallery
Photos by Epu Tararo, Ginas Bellygees, Jane Comben, Jein Fonda, John Bosomworth, Kelly Etuata, and Tom Etuata. Click on any thumbnail to see the larger version:
