Wild Dunedin started as an idea between friends, and after eight years and a six-fold increase in attendees, it has become what it said it was in the first place, the New Zealand Festival of Nature.
"We run on the smell of an oily rag. It’s all on the volunteers and everyone getting in and lending a hand. But that is Dunedin, we all pull together," the effervescent co-creator of the festival, Kerry Buchan, says.
"The priority is having fun," she says, and I believe her. After an hour-long, Covid-impacted Zoom call, I felt inspired. And maybe like I should start composting or something.
Wild Dunedin began as a way for a small group of tourism operators, with a nature focus and bent for advocacy, to get locals out into the wild at their doorstep and to encourage visitors to the city. From the first festival in 2016 — its schedule of 20 events co-ordinated by a team of four people — it has grown to 126 events, the work of staging it now shared by more than 30 volunteers.
"Neil [Harraway] from the Monarch had an idea, and I was the marketing manager at Orokonui Ecosanctuary at the time, and I had a similar idea, so we started it," Kerry says.
Others climbed aboard the waka. Kerry lists them off, forgetting no-one. We probably don’t need to do that here though.
She is a blur of names and energy, full of passion for the city she lives in and the nature it sits in.
Kerry is a force to be reckoned with.
THE WILD
Everyone involved in the festival is a fervent supporter.
And there are a lot of them.
It represents myriad community conservation groups, often run by volunteers, who might otherwise go insufficiently loved. The festival also represents a fundraising opportunity for many of them, because oily rags are all very well.
Jeannie Hayden, festival director and one of the two part-time staff members, says the festival spotlights 23 groups this year, promoting their work.
"Groups like Birds NZ, Sinclair Wetlands, Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group, Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, and the NZ Sea Lion Trust are just some of the groups who are on the ground working to care for our nature," she says.
The aim is to get people involved in nature, to engage with it, perhaps volunteer for it, support the community groups and charities that spend the rest of the year helping all our wildlife thrive.
"We want as many of the events as possible to be free, or low cost, and many of the activities aimed at the next generation ... The future decision makers for Aotearoa," Jeannie says.
"The festival does a great job of educating and promoting the conservation work. Our tours are always packed during the week, and we love getting to know the locals who come along."
While it is about nature, it does also seem to be about the people. Like the late, great Phil Bishop — The Frog Man — who was on the committee and introduced the festival to the rest of the world. And Neville Peat, the festival’s patron, whose knowledge of New Zealand ecology and poetic storytelling lent depth and authenticity.
And, for a small festival, a lot of big names have a lot of nice things to say. Like Dame Jane Goodall, who said, "I’m absolutely sure that this wildlife festival will inspire everyone to do their bit to preserve the wonders of this natural world for future generations". And the Rt Hon. Helen Clarke, who said, "Festivals like this are more important than ever in informing current and future generations and creating a sustainable future for our country."
It’s true that in Otago we are truly are spoilt for choice. From whales, sea lions and the plethora of penguins to the kelp forests and the dolphins that play in them; nature surrounds us in our city, in the hills and the harbour.
But often getting out in it can be another thing. Wild Dunedin aims to provide so many nature-related events that you kind of can’t help it.
The festival is rooted in something like awe for nature. And really, when you are out on a boat off the Otago peninsula watching the lighthouse against a postcard blue sky, with the fur seals playing on the rocks and dolphins sleek in the wake of the water, you really do feel it. Indescribably happy, but also possibly slightly queasy because of the wash of the waves and because you might be the sort of person who likes sitting inside and feels safer on land.
Neil Harraway, owner of the Monarch and the festival’s co-creator, and a person who definitely does not feel queasy on a boat, recommends going outside.
"First, people should enjoy nature, and spending time in it they realise the benefits they get. We hope that this will help them understand it more deeply and want to care for it."
But it is not all about getting out in nature, it is also about bringing nature to you. To think about the life you lead and how you can do something, whether helping out on a local conservation project, or just being a bit more sustainable about waste, or starting a garden. And there are plenty of people in Dunedin, and around New Zealand, who can show you how it is done. Wild Dunedin opens the doors and the backyards of these people composting, and growing, and encouraging the wild into our gardens.
Like Rory, the George St legend who grows tamarillos and kiwifruit in 300m². More than 100kg of fejoas are produced every year. There are multiple varieties of apples, grapes, pears, plums, figs, peaches, passionfruit and berries growing and, during Wild Dunedin, he offers 45-minute tours through his garden.
With the cost of living the way it is, this sounds increasingly attractive.
I talked to him and dutifully wrote down the produce, and didn’t really understand until a friend sent me a photo of outside his house. It’s not like the six red currant bushes that haven’t yet succumbed to neglect at my house. Berries heave over his garden wall in something that looks like the backdrop for an Instagram post by a plant-based influencer.
Rory tells me he went travelling when he was younger and got inspired by European community gardens and Moroccan home kitchen gardens, and "got a bit political. I wanted to create the world I wanted to live in".
There are lots of people like that in Wild Dunedin. People who are inspiring, and who make you feel like you could probably put a little more effort in.
THE CITY
There are eight nature-based tourism companies that partner with the festival, where Wild Dunedin started: as a way to get locals out into the wild at the edge of our city with discounted rates — such as kids-go-free deals. The festival was also conceived as a way to encourage visitors to Dunedin and bring their tourism dollars with them.
Suzy Cato is leading a choir of 300 Dunedin schoolchildren singing songs, about worms, apparently.
Suzy (who clearly has a picture rotting in the attic because I remember watching her when I was a kid), is a clear advocate.
"What an amazing event Wild Dunedin is, for not only everyone involved, but for the whole community and for the whenua of Otago and the taonga that is your local flora and fauna," she says.
Interested in the worm-based choir, I talked to Ali Caldwell, from St Clair School, one of the teachers who is co-ordinating the group of small but committed singers.
"The children have been singing their hearts out all term to learn the songs for concert day; they are all extremely excited to be part of this. We were able to share the songs with all schools in Dunedin, so we’re hoping we’ll have even more tamariki singing from the audience too."
At the risk of trying to replicate the festival programme here, there’s also kelp-forest diving with Dive Otago, and seaweed tasting at the University of Otago’s peninsula marine studies centre. Puketeraki Marae is holding gardening workshops in their marae gardens. Tūhura Otago Museum, "the unofficial HQ", is holding 30 Wild Dunedin events, including a workshop making bitters.
You can’t help but be impressed.
Even from the start though, Wild Dunedin seems to have been a whole-city event. The inimitable Jesse Mulligan was a guest in 2018 and said so.
"I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in a number of festivals around New Zealand, but this is the first that has truly felt of the city. For those few days, Dunedin was the festival and vice-versa," he said.
THE WAIRUA
And, nature is important; and there are real reasons to try to get the country to celebrate, get closer to, and protect our wildlife. Their future is in our hands. The children singing in the choirs could be the last generation that sees yellow-eyed penguins if we don’t make significant changes soon.
But, thanks to local efforts, and people the festival promotes, the Dunedin sea lion population is slowly increasing; the public is starting to know enough about our kelp forests to care about keeping them safe; and experts say that the city could become a sanctuary for Hector’s dolphins. Wild Dunedin calls for action and involvement at a local level, wherever you may live in New Zealand.
It feels aspirational. Especially if your aspiration is to watch 300 children sing songs about worms.
Plus, I think most Dunedinites would like to see us as a sanctuary for Hector’s dolphins.
"There is all the mental health stuff. You know how much better you feel after you go for a walk down a beach," Kerry says. And you do.
And, they got me. Despite a tendency to cynicism, I can’t help but be inspired. After interviewing Kerry, I kind of became a Wild Dunedin fangirl.
As much as a middle-aged woman can be a fangirl that is. And then, right after I spoke to Kerry, I accidentally went for a bush walk with my friend, and I saw a bellbird really close. And right then, under a manuka tree near Broad Bay, I decided to try to work less, and walk in the bush with friends more, and go to an event or two next week.
Because Kerry is right. It makes you feel better.
The festival
- Wild Dunedin festival runs from Friday, April 14 to Sunday, April 23.
Members of the festival organising team pick some faves ...
KERRY BUCHAN
Wildlife: Little blue penguins — watching the "rafts" of penguins manoeuvre across the bay then pop up together on the beach in the twilight is mesmerising.
Event: Earth Day — all together at Chingford Park creating works of art alongside Mother Nature with music and colour ... an autumnal creation that is returned to nature at the end of the day.
JEANNIE HAYDEN
Wildlife: Tītīpounamu or rifleman — tiny and the most difficult to spot and hear in the bush. We now have them on our property and it’s such a buzz when I see them because it also says we are doing something right if they are here.
Event: Compost, bokashi and worm farming — As a keen gardener, this will be my favourite event this year. It will be great to hear from Michelle Cox, she can give so much insight into soil life.
SUZANNE MIDDLETON
Wildlife: Kākā — I love seeing them at Orokonui Ecosanctuary.
Event: Talking Dirty — a whole day to talk about compost and soil with other compost obsessives!
CHARLIE BUCHAN
Wildlife: Jewelled gecko — their colour alone is breathtaking and they always seem to photograph with so much personality.
Event: The Wild Choir — Suzy Cato and loads of kids singing, do I even have to explain!?
