Festival Events

The Nelson Arts Festival provides a unique opportunity to spark joy and creativity in curious minds.  

Budding writers and comedians between the ages of 8 and 12 are invited to join Leela Chakraborti and her dad Rajorshi Chakraborti to learn how to craft funny stories.

A digital sound and visual experience that acts as a creative portal, Te Pito tells the story of connecting to our whenua (land) and ancestry.

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

We’re proud to feature a star-studded line up of 28 of Aotearoa’s most beloved authors and exciting new voices.

The NSAS Spring Exhibition presents a curated selection of members’ artworks across various genres, harmoniously transitioning from the McKee Gallery to the Potton Gallery.

Commemorating the Fletcher Trust Collection’s 60th anniversary, the touring exhibition Gathered Voices was developed in collaboration with the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.

Exploring relationships between colour, light and space.

Since migrating to Aotearoa, Lucia Zúñiga Cáceres‘ art practice has blossomed alongside her own journey of healing. Experience this in her joyful paintings at Cultural Conversations.

A bold, fun, 7 metre disruption literally pops up at the Airport this Festival!

Journey / Movement / Growth / Regeneration.

An intimate display of Catherine Bagnall‘s magical, dream-like watercolours.

Moko kanohi (facial markings) are a powerful expression of Māori cultural heritage worn with pride.

Enter into a breath-taking world of colour, filled with large-scale soothing sensory bubbles.

Te Tauihu ki te poi! A homage to kapa haka in Te Tauihu.

Midday music snack!

Join us in celebrating the start of our 2023 Festival with us – Night Vision invites you to see the whole town as a gallery!

Tune Up is back to transform Kirby Lane into an outdoor music hub with an awesome line-up of rangatahi musicians. 

Hot on the heels of their acclaimed 2021 collaboration, artist Catherine Bagnall and poet Jane Sayle celebrate another collection of watercolours and poems inspired by nature.

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

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.

Join psychologist Alia Bojilova and keen tramper and writer Victoria Bruce as they explore resilience and their respective understanding of the mind-body connection. Chaired by Liz Price.

Caroline Barron‘s Golden Days and Anne Tiernan‘s The Last Days of Joy are both gripping novels that explore how the past can haunt us in the present. Chaired by Paula Morris.

Join author, poet and Slam Poetry performer Emma Ling Sidnam in a safe and inclusive space to explore new ways of expressing yourself through poetry, which can be a beautiful vehicle for your feelings.

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.

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.

Genre-bending Persian-NZ musician and artist CHAII’s discography has traversed the realms of R&B, Hip Hop, electronica and more.

With support from Jola Burns.

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.

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.

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.

Join author and editor Paula Morris and some of her fellow contributors as we celebrate the Whakatū Nelson launch of this essential new anthology of our best Māori short fiction.

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!

Off the back of Splore and WOMAD, Nikita 雅涵 Tu-Bryant, Ed Zuccollo (ZUKE) and Rick Cranson (Little Bushman) will blow you away “with [their] massive sound”.

With support from Neon Cowboys.

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).

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.

In this workshop, bestselling author Caroline Barron will offer an entertaining and informative talk about making your way in the world as an author, with plenty of time to ask questions about the best way to get your own writing project into the hands of readers. 

“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.”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Witi Ihimaera’s Tangi, the first novel written by a Māori author to be published in New Zealand. Join Witi and six fellow Māori writers at this special gala event to celebrate Aotearoa storytelling: Emma Espiner (MC), Vaughan Rapatahana, Ruby Solly, Donna McLeod, Arihia Latham and Airana Ngarewa.

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!

Explore the fascinating world of fungi with Liv Sisson (Fungi of Aotearoa) and Valetta Sówka (Family of Forest and Fungi – He Tukutuku Toiora). Chaired by fellow fungi fanatic Sylvan Thomson.

A gorgeous, rejuvenating evening of chamber music and taonga pūoro celebrating the conservation work of Forest & Bird.

A captivating multidisciplinary live composition technique that unites music, movement, and theatre.

Join us in the Beech Glade outdoor classroom on dusk, where Arihia Latham will read from her debut poetry collection, Birdspeak, alongside her cousin Ruby Solly, who will perform verse from her second book, The Artist.

Commune: Chasing a Utopian Dream in Aotearoa captures the spirit of the counter-culture movement in the Motueka Valley from the perspective of Olive Jones, one of its founding members. Chaired by Kerry Sunderland.

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.

You are warmly invited for an evening where we will share stories of our sentimental tunes.

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.

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

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.

Midday music snack!

Everyone loves a good bedtime story – here’s your chance to spend a Festival event in your PJs.

Captivating Noir Folk artist Jazmine Mary is “rising into our collective consciousness as a star, as an artist to be reckoned with, as a creative force”.

With support from Young Moon.

Celebrated choreographer and director Malia Johnston brings together seven incredible independent dance artists from across Aotearoa and Australia for the immersive experience Tōrua. Walking shoes required!

We’re delighted to bring back our magical street party of the year: with a stellar musical line up featuring Optimus Gryme and Theia, incredible local talent, roaming performers and the opportunity to see Whakatū through the eyes of the Tōrua dancers, there is so much to discover!
Whether you’re keen to (literally) parade the streets in your best mask and costume or simply join the festivities, Carnivale is for everyone. 

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

Join singer, taonga pūoro musician and writer Ariana Tikao, photographer Matt Calman and local writer Nuki Takao for a kōrero about the stunning illustrated nonfiction book, Mokorua: Ngā kōrero mō tōku moko kauae – My story of moko kauae, which is a revealing and emotional account of how Ariana received her moko kauae. Held in conjunction with Kanohi Kitea, an exhibition that presents tā moko amongst tangata whenua.

Join local Audio Describer Ang Pearson for a described tour of two of our major visual art installations, coupled with an audio description of the Christ Church Cathedral.

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.

This stunning new arrangement of Mozart’s Requiem by Robert Wiremu is brought to life by the celebrated Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir and leading instrumental ensemble under the direction of Dr Karen Grylls, and recreates the virtuosic, intimate experience as imagined by Mozart.

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.

We’re proud to again gift a paid residency to two artists from our region, to progress their mahi or trial new ideas. Come experience the sharing at the culmination of the residency!

Irish music heroes Gráda reunite to tour their homelands – Ireland and Aotearoa.