Trigger Warning

Our contemporary music programme returns to the Deville Music Hub to get you grooving across both Festival weekends.

“Why don’t we talk about it?” Fehinti Balogun asks this urgent question and offers an invitation in Can I Live?, a vital new digital performance about the climate catastrophe, sharing his personal journey into the biggest challenge of our times. From “…the most influential and consistently interesting theatre company working in Britain.”

Join internationally acclaimed artists Sheldon Rua & Talia Stanley for a workshop and/or exclusive performance live from the Victory Boxing ring – bring a poem or just come to listen. Now with a guest performance by Emma Ling Sidnam!

True stories told live without pictures or notes, we welcome the return of a local favourite. Couch Stories is back with the much-loved couch and all new stories.

Māori Theatre about the Nelson Tenths with pūrākau, taonga pūoro, waiata, and poetry, from the artists behind sell-out hit Parihaka.

Join the world’s only, unabashed, olive fuelled, award–winning comedy circus power trio on a wild ride as they bring people closer together, one olive at a time.

Fierce, furious, fabulously unforgiving: from its premiere at Auckland Arts Festival comes the celebrated stage adaptation of Tusiata Avia’s unapologetic poetry collection.

Joy. Power. Sensuality. Rage. The Aotearoa premiere of legendary choreographer Sarah Foster-Sproull‘s new dance work – fresh from its world premiere at Edinburgh Fringe.

The highly anticipated follow-up to her 2019 Billy T Award-winning show, Kura Shoulda Woulda Kura Forrester (Taskmaster NZ, Educators) returns to update us on life at large.

Host of ZM Breakfast, The Great Kiwi Bake Off and Have You Been Paying Attention?, this award-winning comedian’s hour of music and comedy sold out at the 2023 NZ Comedy Festival – so be quick!

Celebrated singer and songwriter Theia presents re-imagined songs from her critically acclaimed alt-pop catalogue alongside dreamy waiata from her award-winning reo Māori project Te Kaahu.

From Amapiano to Hip Hop to UK bass to techno – this gig is all about full-glam, full-dance, full-noise to send the Festival off!

With support from Fam.

Music is pumping, lights spinning, colours blurring, faces smiling, butts shaking.

MĀ & The Fly Hunnies welcomes all to a safe place to bob ya head, delivering music from Breakfast With Hades alongside new tunes.

With support from Mihihea.

Award-winning doctor and writer, Dr Emma Espiner, discusses her stunning debut memoir, There’s a cure for this, with Arihia Latham. Together they kōrero about hurt and healing, love and loss, life and death, motherhood and medicine.

Join poet Tusiata Avia, activist Jennifer Shields and disinformation researcher Byron C Clark as they discuss both their experience of hatred and what we can do to protect ourselves and others. Chaired by Madeleine Chapman (Editor, The Spinoff).

Emma Ling Sidnam, Airana Ngarewa and Colleen Maria Lenihan discuss their stunning debut books and reveal what gave them the courage to write. Chaired by Paula Morris.

Rebecca Priestley discusses her new book, End Times, which is part memoir/part road trip exploring climate science, climate denial and belief systems. Chaired by Jude Watson.

Monty Soutar ONZM shares the story behind his bestselling and critically acclaimed debut novel, Kāwai: For Such a Time as This. Chaired by Airana Ngarewa.

Buckle up for a sobering look into how the way you drink is shaped not only by your individual choice, but also by government, media and big business. Chaired by Matty Anderson.