A determination to change the perception of Whangārei as a city full of empty buildings is behind Hayley Clark's decision to become co-founder of the city's first Fringe Festival. Not even Covid-19 could stop the visual artist, curator and theatre mentor from adding "Festival Director" to her CV.
A shout-out for artists saw three times more sign up than she expected. There'll be more than 150 shows over the week long event.
One of the big jobs for the organizing team is turning a former art gallery and nightclub into the festival's comedy venue.
Hayley also has one of her art works in a Fringe group exhibition called Create-A-Saint. She explains to Lynn Freeman why this is the right year for Whangārei's first Fringe Festival.
Create-A-Saint opens at the Megan Dickinson Gallery on the 9th of October as part of the Whangarei Fringe Festival.
