“Youth Festival Comes to the City Again”

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“Youth Festival Comes to the City Again”

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Description: These images are believed to depict various acts who performed during the biennial Youth Festival in July 1978 but were not published in the July 23rd 1978 edition of the Tribune weekly newspaper.

The article read: “Hundreds of children from nineteen Palmerston North schools last week participated in the third biennial Palmerston North Youth Festival.

The event was organised by the city’s Community Arts Council and the city’s Headmasters' Association. Last week’s Youth Festival was held in the city’s Opera House on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

And from July 16 until Friday (July 28) a visual arts display is being exhibited at the Manawatu Art Gallery as part of the youth festival. The arts display has been organised with the help of art teachers in the city's schools, the chairman of the festival’s organising committee. Mrs Morva Croxson, said.

The purpose of the youth festival, she said, was to bridge the gap between schools and the public. It also gave the school pupils some stage experience, and at the same time involved them in a social activity. No prizes were awarded for the acts presented, and there was no competition involved at all she said. The matter of which act would be presented by a particular school, its type, and the number of children it would involve was left up to the school concerned, she added.

This year’s festival was helped by the appearance of clowns from Centrepoint Theatre, and also a comedy act from the Gang Show. Rangers and Venturer Scouts provided valuable assistance behind-the-scenes, and Teachers’ College students also helped out.

A different programme of entertainment was presented every night of the festival. It included comedies, mini-plays, Maori group action songs, hakas, poi demonstrations, gymnastic displays, musical items, song-and-dance routines, a trampoline display, a pipe band, choral items, brass bands, a pop group, national dancing, modern dance, folk singing and other diverse activities.”

These images form part of the Manawatū Evening Standard Negative Collection. Unfortunately, only negatives between April and December 1978 are held.