After a few months of technical trials and tribulations, the Crossways website is back up and running. You can find information about the facilities, details of rates and how to make a book, and a calendar of available times by using the menu above.

Mark your diaries – this Saturday will be filled with fun and frivolity at the Mt Victoria Festival in Roxburgh Street! The theme of the Festival is sustainability and organic living, and more than 65 stalls are confirmed – including food, sustainable lifestyle and high-quality entertainment.

Here’s the map of the Festival, and there’s a downloadable version and schedules for entertainment and workshops over the fold.

Paul Redbird from Radio Active and The Comediettes will entertain and MC the day….

Schedule for the day – the cool things that are happening

Entertainment Schedule

10.00am: Mayor Kerry Prendergast opens the festival
10.10am: Linda Joy
11.00am: Ben Parsons
12.00pm: Tessa Rain
1:00pm: Jonny on the Spot
1:45pm: Tribal Style Bellydance
2.00pm: Funky Junk

Activity / Workshop Schedule:

10.00am: Raising hens in the city; worm farming
10.45am: Guided walk – Friendly dogs on leads welcome!
11.00am: Gardening for lizards
11:00am: Rain water catchment
11:00am: Art Deco walk around Mount Victoria
12.00pm: Sustainable waste management for the home
12:00pm: Reducing waste at work
12.30pm: Bread making
1:00pm: Flax Weaving; Beekeeping
1:00pm: Northern Mount Victoria History walk
2.00pm: Gardening with kids
2:00pm: Funky Junk drumming
2:00pm: Backyard ecological restoration

Eco – Documentaries (Upstairs in Crossways)

10.00am: Innovative inner city community housing & green roof gardens
11.00am: Rainbow Valley Farm NZ- Composting/Bokashi System/Worm farms
12.00pm: Permaculture – A quiet revolution
1:00pm: The Organic Opportunity – local organic food as economic development
2.00pm: Permaculture in Practice

A new feature this year is Speakers Corner – local people and local politicians waxing eloquent about the issues of the day!

10.30 Cr Celia Wade-Brown – A Vision for the Inner City
10.45 Cr Iona Pannett – There are Answers
11.00 Grant Robertson MP – A Labour View
11.15 Green MP
11.30 Cr Ray Apihene-Mercer – Climate Change
12.00 Phil Saxby – Marijuana Reform
12.15 Kent Duston – Save the Basin Reserve
12.30 Cr Stephanie Cook – Water
12.45 Linda Sharp – Transition Towns
1.00 Nicola Rankin – Trash Palace
1.15 Mark Eden – Animal Rights
1.30 Valerie Morse – Terrorism Here and There
1.45 Lisa Barnes – Anti Whaling – Sea Shepherd
2.00 growing fruit trees in the wind & remaining sane – Grow From Here
2.15 Joel Cosgrove – Workers’ Rights

Art Exhibitions, displays, food and eco-documentaries will screen inside Crossways so pop up for some delicious homebakes and a cuppa and see what’s on offer!

Join us on Facebook!

Visit the festival pages to the right for more info, and to get involved…or email tania (at) mtvictoria.org.nz

A meeting will be held at Crossways THIS week on Thursday 3 December, 7.30pm for residents and businesses in Caroline and Roxburgh Streets who will be affected by the closure for the festival.

The closure date is planned for Saturday 27 February 2010 from 8am – 5pm (the festival will run from 10am – 3pm). The committee has planned for a rain day option for Sunday 28 February.

Come down and discuss the closure and festival with the 2010 Festival Committee, so we can ensure the event meets the needs of the community. We’d love to have your input!

The inaugural Mt Victoria Festival earlier in the year was a huge success, and despite the rainy weather was a really enjoyable way of bringing the community together for a day of fun, food and entertainment. And in 2010 it’s going to be even bigger and better – so mark your diaries for Saturday 27 February.

The festival is being organised by the Crossways Community Trust, and Tania Austin has graciously agreed to apply her organising super-powers to the task once more – you can contact her by e-mail at tania(at)mtvictoria.org.nz. Applications are now open for anyone who would like a stall at the festival, and volunteers are being recruited. You can find details in the Festival menu on the right hand side.

Tania Austin is the coordinator for the Mt Victoria Festival 2010

The New Crossways Trust held a fundraising showing of the film The Age of Stupid on Thursday 20 August. Including raffles sales and donations, over $550 was raised towards the on-going costs of providing the New Crossways Community Centre.

The Trust wishes to thank everyone who supported us, and especially the businesses that generously donated the raffle prizes – Ambeli Restaurant, 18 Majoribanks Street, Mt Victoria, and CommonSense Organics, Wakefield Street.

The winners of the raffles were:

1. $100 meal voucher donated by The Ambeli restaurant, Majoribanks Street
Ticket No: 011. Shelley

2. Box of organic vegetables and $50 voucher donated by Commonsense Organics, Wakefield Street
Ticket No: 19 Finnie

3. Produce, scarf and books
Ticket No: 21 Ruby

Winners will be contacted in the next few days, or they can e-mail crossways@crossways.org.nz to claim their prize.

Crossways is holding another of its film fundraisers at the Paramount Theatre at 8:30pm on Thursday 20 August. The movie is The Age Of Stupid, in which Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) stars as a man living alone in the devasted world of 2055, looking back at “archive” footage from 2007 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

The movie has only just been released in Australia and New Zealand, and so everyone will have a chance to see a band-new movie while supporting Crossways! Tickets are $20 and can be obtained by e-mailing crossways@crossways.org.nz.