A mouth watering performance by New Zealand comedian and TV personality Te Radar is coming to Bannockburn Coronation Hall next month.

Te Radar’s show ‘Cookbookery’ is one of the acts in Wānaka’s Festival of Colour coming to Central Lakes from March 29 to April 6. 

Wānaka Festival of Colour executive director Ruth Heath said it would be a great community occasion and the festival usually programmes an event in Bannockburn.

“We are encouraging people to bring a plate related to the theme and it’s a two-hour event with an interval and plenty of opportunity to chat then and afterwards.”

The show celebrates cookbooks and cuisine from New Zealand’s history, traversing 150 years of tidbits, recipes and food photography from celebrity chefs such as Graham Kerr, Alison Holst, Aunt Daisy, and Hudson and Halls.

Te Radar described the show as fun, celebratory, and nostalgic. 

“People can certainly expect to laugh, because it’s most certainly a comedy show—it just happens to be about cookbooks, food, and New Zealand. 

“There's also a couple of hundred images to look at, and no shortage of larger-than-life characters who have given us some very strange takes on food over 150 years. You don’t even need to like food (and from some of the recipes, it’s clear that some cookbook writers didn’t) to enjoy the show,” he said. 

Te Radar has won two Qantas Media awards for his columns, as well as creating the top-rating TV series Off the Radar.

Other accolades of his include television shows Radar Across the Pacific and Global Radar, both ran for two series, and won Best Factual Series and Best Information Series respectively at the New Zealand Television Awards.

He has been event MC at National Field days in the Waikato for six years, and is the quizmaster and compere at Young Farmer of the Year.  

In 2017 Te Radar was awarded an honorary Masters of Arts (MA) from Wintec for his work in media. 

The show will be in Bannockburn on Tuesday April 1, Hāwea Flat Hall on Wednesday April 2 and Queenstown’s Te Atamira on Friday April 4. 

For the Hāwea show chef, publisher and food writer Annabel Langbein will join Te Radar as a guest judge.

More than 60 events are held during the March 29 - April 6 festival; there’s theatre, cabaret, music, poetry, comedy, dance, kōrero (conversations), visuals arts and community events. 

Stay tuned for more arts information as The Central App will publish an article next week about local tamariki and rangitahi who are performing during the Community Whānau Day at the start of the festival. 

Read more: Play brings Kāi Tahu wahine toa story to Central Lakes.

Read more: Creativity, culture to be celebrated at Wānaka Festival of Colour.

Have a story to share?

Contact [email protected]