Free & Koha

Ko Te Ākau — Poetics of Land, Water and Sky is a new installation and performance work created by visionary and internationally renowned artist Charles Koroneho in collaboration with Filament Eleven 11.

Spring. Daylight Savings. Arts Festival. Opening night. What better way to celebrate than watching the city unfurl after dark?

Need coffee? Fancy a beverage pre or post show? Or have you just finished performing and you need somewhere to unwind and meet other artists, audiences and crew?
No fear! (Almost) every night of the Fest we’ve got you covered at East St Festival Hub with post-show gigs, excellent beverages and food to save the planet by.

A forever festival favourite, this magical community celebration is how we welcome the start of summer in Whakatū Nelson. 2021 is all about connection - the theme for this year’s parade!

See the world how the future does, in Through The Eye of Whakatū. A group of Whakatū tamariki have been exploring climate change through the lens of a camera.

This is the news, but not as you know it.

News News News is a television news show made by children for adults, presented live from the stage of Tauranga’s Baycourt Theatre to viewers across the globe (and Whakatū).

The intricate overlaying and threading of flax fibres adds to the rich tapestry of Te Tau Ihu whakapapa and tells the unique stories associated with this art form.

Nelson City Centre ArtWalk is an outdoor art gallery in Whakatū’s streets. With 26 sites, ArtWalk takes you on a journey past artworks by some of our most celebrated artists, as well as artworks that have a particular poignancy to Whakatū.

Experience it, be in it, craft it, share it. We’ve cooked up somethin’ special at the Refinery Visual Arts Hub (as if they don’t do special the rest of the year too).

Repose invites local and international artists to cross geographic boundaries and timezones to connect and create together.

‘Ano me He Wharepuungawerewere’ is a whakatauki that likens a beautifully carved or woven house (Wharenui), to that of a beautifully and authentically woven spider’s web. It can also be used to express or denote the ideas of a house full of spider webs, collecting dust.

Join 29 of Aotearoa’s leading authors and change-makers who come together over four days for kōrero about their latest books, the lives that have informed them and how the written word enables them to explore the universal issues that matter to us all.

There are – in the tradition of Katherine Mansfield, Robin Hyde and Janet Frame – many Aotearoa writers who live beyond our shores. What message would they like us to hear?

Steve Braunias speaks with Miro Bilbrough about her memoir, In The Time of the Manaroans, which he declared on Newsroom the ‘best written book of non-fiction of 2020’.

Former NZ Poet Laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh shares the stage with two of Aoteaora’s most extraordinary young poets – Ruby Solly and Tayi Tibble – as they perform poems from their latest collections.

A deep-dive discussion with Charlotte Grimshaw about her explosive new memoir, facilitated by filmmaker and fellow memoirist Miro Bilbrough.