Silent Disco Citywalk® is an award-winning interactive event, an original idea brought to you by Papaya Stories and Yana Kirakovskaya. It is a community and placemaking initiative that transforms the city and public spaces into a fun playground, an intergenerational dance floor where young and old enjoy each other company the most. Through a lens of immersive and creative storytelling, a themed playlist, and pop-up surprises that happen along the way, Silent Disco Citywalk® wins the hearts of many, furry hearts included.
Our team is open to diverse collaborations and partnerships, be it organising a new community event, fundraising campaign, or a private party. We had a pleasure working with the Tamaki Regeneration team to design a new walking route while activating the township of Glen Innes with the help of the Silent Disco Citywalk®. We had to do profound research about the area that led us to new friendships, art objects, and fun production times.
To be able to respond to the Auckland housing crisis, the Tamaki area is ambitious about its new housing development. No wonder that this change brings all sorts of emotions and feelings. Therefore we decided to explore a theme of “Change” in greater depth and examine how we as human beings deal with change. Thanks to COVID-19 now we can all relate to this timely topic, as change is the air we breathe in these days.
As a result, we produced a new audio programme featuring a voice-over battle between those who love change and those who resist it; a themed music playlist and interactive activities with public art objects.
Playing a treasure hunt mosaic game and having two winners!
Appreciating the colourful murals, huge herons (Kotuku) sculptures, and stories behind them.
Activating the Mayfair Place stage with a dance battle and twist.
During our work on the audio programme we also met some locals and listened to their stories. We ended up having a great korero with Nicola Johns, the pharmacist, and talked about holistic health, Maori traditional medicine, and wellbeing.
We visited the creative studio of Gary Sliva, an amazing guy, artist, and the main force behind the Bradley Lane Mural Project who also shared his personal story with us.
We popped by Marcis Brothers, Glen Innes Library where had a proper silent disco party moment followed by a pop-up poetry reading.
And finally, we embraced the change with the help of a gorgeous surprise performance by East Cook Islands Community Culture Group Incorp Tamaki that was a special festive delight for everyone to enjoy.
The taste of delight can’t be appreciated to the fullest if you don’t know the ingredients. This is why our audience members were challenged to learn and repeat Cook Islands’ traditional dance moves.
One surprise was followed by another, as Papaya Stories received its official award from Auckland Transport in the category Initiative of The Year for the Silent Disco Citywalk® presented by gorgeous Tiffany Robinson.
In the end, all we had to do is to come together, share smiles, and hug it out.
No matter how hard the wind of change blows, the future is bright when we think of togetherness, diversity, and authenticity. And those are the core stones in the sea of work that we are doing.
Keen to learn more about the Silent Disco Citywalk® concept and how it can be adapted to your neighbourhood or city, then click here www.silentdisco-citywalk.com or get in touch via email: info@silentdisco-citywalk.com
To learn more about how the Silent Disco Citywalk® can become your birthday, hens party celebration or corporate, fundraising event, check out our packages by clicking here.
