Andrew Laking, Lōemis Founder and Artistic Director

The annual Lōemis festival is set to make its return to Wellington In June, boasting a highly impressive array of international and local artists including Cate Le Bon, Lydia Lunch, Saint Levant, Snapped Ankles, Shyane P Carter and the NZSO, Chanel Beads, Kelly Moran, Acid Mothers Temple, Troy Kingi, and Kavari, to name just a few. Now in its 11th year, the beloved mid-winter festival has become renowned for its vibrancy and eclectic lineup of multi-sensory events that encompass immersive art, music, film, sculpture, food, and more. Scheduled to coincide with the winter solstice, Lōemis is a festival that promotes discovery, curiosity and ritual in a multitude of ways. I caught up with the festival’s founder and artistic director, Andrew Laking, to chat about the evolution of Lōemis, and what the 11th iteration of the festival has lined up.

You have curated an amazing line-up for the festival this year. You have a wonderful array of eclectic artists both local and international set to perform.

Yeah, it's pretty fun, eh? We've essentially partnered with a bunch of Australian festivals, like Dark Mofo, and been able to tag off some of their acts and find ones that we thought would suit our audiences, and that we could make work. I mean, they've got such a large selection of acts coming through. It's been on my to-do list for ages. I talked to Dark Mofo about a decade ago, and I've had a couple of conversations since over the years, but I wasn't actually able to make anything happen just because it's financially quite a big jump.

It's been another kind of step. It's always felt slightly out of reach, but last year it started to come together. I had the idea that with all these great acts coming through Australia it would be quite nice to add this other layer on to the festival. Trying to find some really interesting acts that fit in with the type of thing that we've been trying to do at Lōemis over the years.

I’ve been going over the schedule wondering how I can attend as many events as possible; audiences are absolutely spoiled for choice with the lineup. With a number of festivals and events being cancelled, not just in Aotearoa but around the world, it must be a little bit daunting to take this next step with Lōemis.

Yeah. There's been heaps of interest, which is good. But you're right; the economic climate is difficult, and you never know which way things are going to turn. So it's always in your mind how things might go. This has been a festival that we've built from the ground up, and it's in its 11th year now, so I feel like the main structure of it is really strong. And if people don't have money and aren't going out, then we can still keep making really interesting events. At the moment we're in a good place because we're able to add these extra international acts as well.

And you never know when you're going to get the opportunity to see some of these acts again, so seize the opportunity to see something new and different. Not to mention that it’s a vibrant event to look forward to in the middle of winter.

I like winter. I lived in Ireland for ages, and obviously it rains a lot there, but they have a really good culture built around indoor events. I mean, it's not like it just rains all the time and everybody's inside in a bar the whole time, but they do have a really good culture of indoor performance events, often in seated auditoriums, and really nice venues where you can go and watch shows. It’s probably slightly more so than here, only because of our climate. We have heaps of summer stuff, which is outdoors. And I guess their period of events is slightly longer because of the seasons, but they've kind of honed in on that a bit more, whereas we've probably honed in a bit more on the outdoor summer festival sort of thing. Even though both countries have both things going on, there are slightly different mind sets. We've just picked up on a lot of that with the festival, and winter's really good for that because you just want to be inside going to a really cool event. So you've got the warm inside; you don't have to be at the beach.

In addition to all of the performances you are also running workshops, an art show and market, dance workshops, food events, a midwinter solstice ball, and The Night Crossing parade that features fire, puppetry and music.

I love the winter workshops. I actually want to do more of that. Because we made this massive jump with all these international acts, I kind of pulled back on some of the other elements of the festival this year just because we've got so much going on. I didn't want to just overcomplicate it, but I love those workshops and things and we'll definitely do more of those things in the future.

Looking at the ticket prices, they're still very accessible compared to what you might normally pay to see an international act.

I think it's real good value, but we've been careful with the ticket pricing as well. A lot of the acts have got really good followings overseas, but some of them aren't quite as well known here. So you're getting to see really top-end acts, but at quite a good price point, because they're just coming into New Zealand mostly, a lot of them for the first time. I love these kinds of new contemporary style acts as well; the whole festival's been built on that. These sort of experiences that people haven't encountered before. I've always been interested in the more contemporary side of things where people just come and experience things they haven't been to before. The vibe of those events - you can't beat it.

What are you looking forward to the most at the festival?

Let me think. Heaps of the music stuff I haven't seen before; I haven't seen those groups at all in those settings. I love the immersive events as well. I think the Midsommar event is going to be real fun; it's a great film, and because there's so much food in that film there's a food event beforehand, which is really cool. And that if the weather is good, The Night Crossing procession; those events are always really cool. They're quite wild, a little bit feral. I love it.

Yes, yes. The band, you know, and like, things get set alight and there's like, yeah, I mean, and they're just kind of, I think for me, that's like the heart, it's kind of almost at the heart of what the festival is. Because it's midwinter, you can hibernate all winter, or you can get outside and just go out into the winter and just kind of put on a warm jacket. It's quite uplifting. And that event is at 5.30, so the idea is you finish work and instead of going home, just head down to the waterfront. It only goes for an hour, but it's a blast and really fun.

I have often found that the gigs and shows that aren’t normally something that you'd go to can be the most surprising and enjoyable experiences.

Yeah, and that's almost kind of the heart of what a festival like this is. It's a platform where you can go and explore stuff. And it's a safe space to go and just check out stuff and tap into your curiosity.