Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival 2025
I first attended the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in 2022 and, returning in 2023 and 2024, have witnessed the festival increase in popularity spectacularly. In 2024 more than half the events sold out completely and ticket sales were up one-third on the previous year. Over at Newsroom, Steve Braunias declared last year’s festival a triumph. He was also highly complimentary about the session I was involved in, writing that:
I also went to one of the very best events I have seen anywhere at a New Zealand literary festival, and rate it among the top five: a revelatory, profound, long-form event lasting 90 minutes devoted to the New Zealand Wars, with a panel of not two, not three, not four but five authors, Vincent O’Malley, Joanna Kidman, Buddy Mikaere, Christopher Pugsley, and Gavin Bishop. As chair, Peter Biggs gave it shape and narrative, sitting back to allow stories and controversies and angers to be told. It was unforgettable.
The 2025 programme for the weekend of 9 to 11 May was released last Friday and features 44 events and over 90 presents for the tenth anniversary festival. It is an incredible line up of speakers covering everything from wood chopping to tikanga Māori.
I am delighted to be returning as part of this for a session focused on the Waikato War that also features Professors Tom Roa (Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto), Joanna Kidman (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa), and James Belich, along with moderator Peter Biggs. Together we will explore the ways in which the Waikato War was a transformative moment in New Zealand history, and one whose consequences continue to be felt today. I hope to see some of you there.
Aku mihi
Vincent O’Malley