Yesterday I was clever,
so I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise,
so I am changing myself.
Rumi
Transformational
Evolve Festival is an annual celebration of old customs and new ways to transform the health and wellbeing of individuals, the community and the earth. The wonderful world of Founders Heritage Park is transformed for one whole weekend and, with so much on offer, there is something for everyone.
Inspirational
Evolve Festival brings together global pioneers in health, wellbeing, spirituality, indigenous wisdom, sustainable business and creative expression to facilitate collaboration, learning, knowledge sharing, healing and enlightenment in order to inspire you to be the change you want to see.
Discover new ways of thinking, doing and being. Make informed choices for your own health and wellbeing.
Uplifting
Evolve Festival offers music, dance and performers that not only entertain you but also uplift you, along with the chance to practice a range of healing arts like yoga, meditation, energy healing, chanting and meditation that help you free up your body and learn to let go!
Whakapapa and Kauapapa
Whakapapa (Māori pronunciation: [ˈfakapapa]), is commonly used to mean genealogy, but it literally means to create a base or foundation.
Evolve Festival began its life as the Festival of Possibilities 25 years ago, founded by Avery Dash. Later Maureen McCain came on board as festival director and changed the name to the Festival of Opportunities. In 2006, Debby Verdonk took over management of the Festival for four years.
Bex and Chaitanya Deva came on board as directors in 2010 and ran the event for one year as the Festival of Opportunities. In 2011, they changed the name to Evolve Festival, to reflect its focus on transformation. In the same year, a Saturday evening programme was introduced for the first time, featuring tribal fusion didgeridoo dub musician Gangi Giri as headline act. In 2014, a Friday night programme was introduced along with on-site camping. By 2015, Bex and Chai had got the mix of daytime and nightly entertainment and workshops just right, so there were no major changes this year, but the Evolve Festival was bigger and better than ever before.
Kaupapa is a set of values, principles and plans which people have agreed on as a foundation for their actions.
Evolve Festival’s kaupapa is to provide the environment for New Zealanders and travellers to the top of the South to:
- Connect with others who know that, in order to transform the world, we need to transform ourselves.
- Expand our minds with thought-provoking sessions.
- Free up the energy in our bodies.