07/03/2026
FESTIVAL FINALE 🎼👯♀️💥
International Women's Day 💜🤍💚
After 4 weeks and 89 events, there's only one left this La Fiesta. Today. International Women's Day. It's what the festival is all about.
GRIT, GLAM + GLORY: featuring Betsy Raines, Karen Clarke 'Blues Woman' and Celine Filbee.
This terrific Taranaki trio will take you on a wild ride across and through a kaleidoscope of musical genre. It's gonna be a show-stopper! 🔥
💥 Ticket link: https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2026/grit-glam-glory-karen-clarke-betsy-raines-celine-filbee/whanganui
⭐️ Door sales will be available, bring cash: $30 GA and $20 Senior/Student + BYO refreshments with you
⭐️ La Fiesta: ensuring that women and girls have a safe and supportive platform to shine 👌
La Fiesta finale - ‘Grit, Glam + Glory ’ this Sunday
After four weeks of activity, La Fiesta wraps up this weekend with its festival finale featuring three Taranaki singer-songwriters performing on International Women’s Day. Grit, Glam + Glory is set to pack a punch in a powerful celebration of women’s voices, struggles, stories, and spirit. Showcasing the extraordinary talents of Karen Clarke ‘Blues Woman’, Betsy Raines, and Celine Filbee, this is a rare meeting of the trio who have put this set together especially for La Fiesta. These women don’t just perform — they ignite, both on and off stage.
From wind-beaten stages in the lower North Island to late-night sessions deep in the Taranaki back blocks, Karen Clarke has been holding down the groove for decades. Now a rising force in Aotearoa’s indie blues scene, her live show hits like a freight train — one woman, one guitar, and all the damn feelings. This indie mama owns her own sound — a gritty, groove-driven mix of blues, RnB, alt-country with an occasional jazz dalliance. Karen delivers warmth, soul, and sass. A quiet storm, until the fire kicks in.
Betsy Raines is a captivating, emotional and honest songwriter. Combining NZ reggae and dub with classic blues and soul, Betsy creates a unique show. Her iconic keyboard sound is warm like a good bath, singing about warped love and rejection. Well-known for her performances as a front woman for her band Betsy and The Reckless, her solo performance presents a more intimate storytelling, a vibe that is soulful, relatable and frequently amusing.
Celine Filbee will take you on a musical journey through blues standards, ballads and toe-tapping grooves. Over the years singing and playing guitar in several line-ups, Celine has honed an act fitting her large persona and eclectic musical bent encompassing folk, blues, Americana and roots music. Expect a mix of self-penned songs, as well as some co-labs written with Lyttleton-based singer songwriter Michael O’Dempsey. With a striking voice, unique style and charisma, Celine has the storytelling magnetism to carry even the most sparse song.
La Fiesta has developed a reputation for providing a safe and supportive platform to showcase women musicians and women-led bands. Worldwide, music festivals average 64% male performers, with women or women-led acts only making up only 10-20% of the headline acts each year at major festivals. This year, La Fiesta is clocking in at 100% representation across four musical performances that feature women and women-led bands. Grit, Glam + Glory invites you to support independent musicians and women of song this International Women’s Day.
When: 4-6:30pm on Sunday 8 March
Where: St Laurence’s Chapel, Gibson Street, Whanganui
Tickets: $25 General Admission; $15 Senior/Student + booking fee via Eventfinda
