Well the 2012 Festival is finally done - but not quite yet dusted. The Festival team is elated after what truly has been an extraordinary 24 days. Many of the crew are still hard at it - pulling down various venues and bumping out sets and technical equipment all over town. There have been many goodbyes at the airport today as the last of our artists head back home or onto other New Zealand destinations to see more of Aoteoroa.

The tributes and congratulations have been pouring in. "Awesome", "freaking amazing", "masterpiece", "magical", “can’t wait till 2014” and “I didn’t want it to end” are just some of the comments concerning the Festival as a whole. Though for me, the biggest joy is seeing audiences clearly enjoying the experience and being moved by what they’ve witnessed.

There were many memorable and momentous events in the 2012 Festival.  After such an extraordinary event, I feel I need a few days to fully absorb it all. The farewell will come later – but right now I’m 'comfortably numb!' 

Lissa Twomey / Artistic Director

Hot from the editing room at Sauce is our brand new Festival wrap video featuring 24 extraordinary days of arts events squeezed into just a few minutes - it's full to the brim with great memories. 

Other Festival wrap-ups are also starting to come in. One News featured interviews with both Artistic Director Lissa Twomey and Executive Director Sue Paterson in a piece that focused on the incredible success of this year's event.

That's just the beginning of the praise that TheatreView's Michael Gilchrist lavished upon new New Zealand opera Hōhepa, which played over three nights during the tail-end of the Festival. Gilchrist went on to compliment nearly every aspect of the opera, from the production: "depth of excellence in every aspect", to the performances of the all-star cast led by Phillip Rhodes: "everyone is engaged to a rare degree and the ensemble work by both cast members and the chorus is outstanding."

Here's hoping we get to see an evolved version of the production in the future. Until then check out the NBR NZ Opera's video of Hōhepa on stage.

The final curtains have fallen and the last bows for 2012 have been taken, so that means you can sit back and take stock of exactly which Festival events pushed all the right buttons. Cast your vote in the Dominion Post Reader's Choice Awards and have your say about the Festival's best theatre, music and dance. But be quick, voting closes today. Plus, keep your eyes peeled for the paper's Festival wrap - coming soon.

Without the support of some very generous corporations and individuals the New Zealand International Arts Festival simply wouldn't be possible. A special thanks goes out to our Gold Sponsors: New Zealand Post, TelstraClear, TV3 and iSite Media; Core Funders: Creative New Zealand and Wellington City Council; and Major Grant providers: New Zealand Community Trust, New Zealand Major Events, Wellington Community Trust and the Lion Foundation. There are also our Silver and Bronze Sponsors, International Partners. Corporate Patrons, Grants providers and a long list of Patrons, all of whom play an invaluable role in making the International Arts Festival New Zealand's greatest cultural event.

Whether lugging a sizeable backpack holding multiple cameras, lenses and other photographic paraphernalia around the streets, or sneakily snapping away at various events, there's a pretty good chance that you will have seen official Festival photographer Robert Catto around town of late. Robert has captured thousands upon thousands of images over the past 24 days, but he's managed to whittle the many down to his very favourite few - check out his stunning choices for the top Festival shots on our Facebook page.

We've loved keeping in touch with you via Facebook and Twitter over the past three weeks, with the best tweets being eagerly passed around the office like little 140 character nuggets of gold. Here are our picks for the Top 5 sweetest tweets from during the Festival:

Erin Banks: Sell your kidneys, mortgage your house, whatever you do see Raoul;@NZFestival have saved the very best till last.

Nicky Spence: Henry V by Propeller is absolute essential viewing. It had balls... literally! @NZFestival @Vinnyleigh  

Salesi Le'ota: Animals and children is glorious and wicked. bad things will happen to you if you miss it @NZFestival 

Camille Guzzwell: Last night I saw Hohepa at the #NZFestival and it was incredible! Jonathan Lemalu made my mascara run, I must've had something in my eye :)

Robert Haley: Went to @NZFestival show LEO last night. It tipped reality on it head - turning @downstagenz into upsidedownstage

We may have only just tucked this Festival into its nice cosy bed, but we can't help but look forward a couple of years to the next Festival in 2014 - and we can even give you the dates to look forward to. Festival 2014 will run from 28 February to 23 March, so get that pen out and mark down the dates in your diary.

If you're worried about suffering a bit of arts withdrawal now that the Festival's finished then worry not - you can still enjoy playwright Gary Henderson's Peninsula at C!RCA Theatre until the end of March. One of Sir Ian McKellan's picks of the Festival, described by the Dom Post as "beautifully realised", and by theatreview's John Smythe as "essential theatre in every respect", if you didn't make it along during the Festival, make sure you do so in the next couple of weeks. Book your tickets to Peninsula on the C!RCA website now.

If you enjoyed an unforgettable experience this Festival then you can relive at least part of the magic as many times as you like on the Festival YouTube page. There you'll find event trailers alongside specially created videos as part of TelstraClear Festival TV, featuring cast interviews, rehearsal footage and more. 

Well done to the crew over at scoop.co.nz who have got a pretty comprehensive selection of reviews for the literary sessions conducted as part of the Festival's Writers and Readers Week (Mar 9-14). A definite favourite was panel session Where Were You in '72? that was described by Sarah Lang as 'one of those once in a lifetime moments'. Also well received was poet laureate Bill Manhire's first New Zealand poetry masterclass: "The format was great as were the participants." Read all the reviews here (including a rather intriguing 'scene-style' review of Why Isn't Theatre Dead Yet?)

2014 will be here before you know it - believe us. Make sure you're up with all the Festival developments as we begin preparations for the next New Zealand International Arts Festival by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter and, of course, keeping an eye out for your regular Kiwi's Beak e-newsletters.

This is a great opportunity to enjoy three contrasting ballets inspired by New York City, with NYC from the Royal New Zealand Ballet. From works by the city's hottest young choreographers, Larry Keigwin and Benjamin Millepied, to a Balanchine classic inspired by Gershwin's legendary songs, this exceptional programme is exciting audiences throughout New Zealand. View a behind the scenes video and book your tickets on the RNZB website now.

We have a double pass to give away to this Sunday's 6.30pm performance at Wellington's St James Theatre. To be in with a chance to win, email your name, phone number and address to marketing@festival.co.nz  with the subject heading ‘NYC’ before 5pm this Thursday 22 March. The winner will be drawn and notified on Friday 23 March. Only the winner will be notified.