Countdown to Festival for the Future

Countdown to Festival for the Future

400 young innovators from around New Zealand will converge on Auckland this weekend for the fourth annual Festival for the Future. The festival celebrates youth­led Kiwi innovation, and supports the next generation to spark and grow ideas for a better world. Contributors come from a vast range of disciplines to connect, share their passion, projects, and vision for New Zealand.

28 year old Festival Founder & Director, Guy Ryan said “...the Festival has grown into a significant national event, and now has support from some of New Zealand’s most influential organisations. The showcase of young New Zealanders who are literally changing the world is incredibly inspiring, it’s the kind of stuff that makes you proud to be a Kiwi.”

Keynote speakers range from Andrew Hamilton, CEO of The Icehouse to Minnie Baragwanath, CEO of Be Accessible which is transforming New Zealand’s support of accessibility needs. Emeline Afeaki Mafile’o will talk about the various enterprises she has established that are changing lives in the Pacific.

Young innovators include Tsar Marsters, a 19 year old hip­hop dancer who turned poor high school grades into a successful dance academy soon to represent New Zealand. Taylor Finderup, a 15 year old will talk about the campaign she led to help ban shark­finning, Yvonne Taufa is connecting girls from low income backgrounds with donated dresses for their school balls through ‘The Cinderella Project’, and Jason Pemberton who co­founded the Student Volunteer Army in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake.

Twenty­one speakers will give talks over the weekend, punctuated by workshops, seminars and entertainment.

Inspiring Stories Trust, the organisation behind the Festival, with support from the Akina Foundation, has awarded 54 scholarships to young people around the country who wouldn’t have otherwise been able to attend. Recipient India Logan­Riley, 19, from Hastings, said she was most looking forward to attending the workshop section of the festival programme “to develop some skills in bringing ideas to life and creating a vision that everyone wants to have a part in.”

Festival for the Future is on from the 5th
to the 7th of September at AUT University’s Sir Paul Reeves Building in central Auckland. Tickets will be available until 3rd of September.

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