Acts celebrating culture, ancestry and community are set to take to the stage next month in a local variety concert in Cromwell.

The concert is being put on by Welcoming Communities and Central Otago District Council (CODC) at Cromwell College Auditorium, on Saturday March 16, between 6.30pm and 8pm. 

Welcoming Communities officer Heather Harries said the concert was a part of the nationwide Unity Week, an initiative established by the Sakinah Community Trust, a not-for-profit organisation led by seven women who lost family in the March 15 Christchurch mosque attacks. 

“We’re looking for acts, solo or group and volunteers to help with the concert logistics too.”

Performances can be short snippets of 30 seconds, or up to five minutes long.

All types of acts are welcome, including items such as Irish folk songs, English poetry, Samoan Taualuga, Filipino Pandanggo, Kapa Haka and waiata.

Unity Week was launched in 2022 and is a coordinated approach to remember and honour lives lost, and to promote a socially cohesive society.  

The week is March 15-21 and events are planned across New Zealand, with schools, workplaces and communities taking time to do things that support togetherness.

Learn more about Unity Week here.

For more information, or to sign up contact Heather by email [email protected] or call 021 246 5034.