Festival Events

Genre | Date

  • free
  • international

A CALL TO DANCE

AUSTRALIA

MAKE/SHIFT SPACE, Nelson CBD
Mon 21 – Wed 23 Oct
When the venue is confirmed, we will update details here.

Join acclaimed choreographer and dancer Amrita Hepi for a fun and free yarn, and together you’ll create a small moment of personal rebellion: a move that’s all about you.
DanceFree & Koha
  • nz

A SYNTHESIZED UNIVERSE

AOTEAROA

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Thu 24 Oct, 8pm

From Anthonie Tonnon, an immersive experience that combines live music with custom animation, other-worldly video manipulations, and a flight through the known universe.
Music
  • premiere

APERTURE

AOTEAROA / NETHERLANDS

SUTER THEATRE
Thu 24 & Fri 25 Oct, 7pm

A new play about Ans Westra and the beginnings of her long and influential career as one of New Zealand’s best-known social documentary photographers.
TheatreVisual Arts
  • nz

BJÖRK: ALL IS FULL OF LOVE

AOTEAROA

THEATRE ROYAL
Fri 18 Oct, 8pm

New Zealand’s most inventive and theatrical chamber orchestra, Blackbird Ensemble, presents an awe-inspiring homage to the inimitable Icelandic pop artist, Björk.
Music
  • international

CARAVÃNA SUN

AUSTRALIA

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Sun 27 Oct, 8pm

Sydney five-piece band Caravãna Sun is bringing their blend of indie-surf-rock meets gypsy-ska to Nelson, with promises to make a cool evening sizzle like summer.
Music
  • nz

CELLFISH

AOTEAROA

SUTER THEATRE
Fri 18 & Sat 19 Oct, 8pm

Where hardened inmates come face-to-face with a whole new nightmare: Shakespeare classes with Miss Lucy!
Theatre
  • nz

COUCH STORIES

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Wed 23 Oct, 7.30pm

Couch Stories are true, personal stories told live on stage, without pictures or notes.
Kōrero
  • free

COVER ME

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Thu 24 Oct, 6.30pm

Cover Me returns with their mix of funk, soul, jazz, dance, RnB and rock influences.
Free & KohaMusic
  • free
  • international

CULTURAL CONVERSATIONS

BHUTANESE, COLOMBIAN & SRI LANKAN in AOTEAROA

FOUNDERS PARK / UPPER TRAFALGAR STREET
Sat 19 – Mon 28 Oct

This year’s Festival has a designated space hosted by communities from different cultural backgrounds, to encourage informal conversations around arts and culture.
Free & KohaKōreroSpecial Events
  • free
  • international

CULTURAL CONVERSATIONS PERFORMANCE

Top of Trafalgar Street
Mon 28 Oct, 7pm

Come and see the works created during Cultural Conversations.
Free & KohaSpecial Events
  • free

DAYNA SANERIVI

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sun 20 Oct, 5pm

Presenting the long-awaited new collection of original compositions by gifted singer/songwriter Dayna Sanerivi.
Free & KohaMusic
  • free

DUST & GOLD

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sun 27 Oct, 6.30pm

Dust & Gold blends Nikita Fountain’s beautiful songbird voice and Mark McKenzie’s rich baritone over a wholesome and raw acoustic accompaniment of original material.
Free & KohaMusic
  • free

ELISHA HOBBS

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Mon 21 Oct, 5.30pm

A multi-instrumentalist and songwriter hailing from Motueka, Elisha Hobbs performs a collection of original music.
Free & KohaMusic
Greg Copeland blues singer
  • international

GREG COPELAND

USA / GERMANY

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Fri 25 Oct, 8pm

Greg Copeland is returning to New Zealand to take audiences on an up-close and personal acoustic journey through the Blues.
Music
  • free

HERELESSNESS

FOUNDERS HERITAGE PARK
Thu 24 – Sun 27 Oct, 8.30pm

A mesmerising outdoor performance featuring bungee-assisted dance and landscape design.
DanceFree & Koha
Sean Young in his show Kaput
  • international

KAPUT

AUSTRALIA

SUTER THEATRE
Tue 22 Oct, 7pm

A multi-award winning family show that has enthralled audiences of all ages with slapstick, acrobatics and total silliness.
ComedyFamilyTheatre
  • free

LOS GALANES

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sat 19 Oct, 6.30pm

Join the fun with one of New Zealand's up and coming Latin bands.
Free & KohaMusic
  • free

MASK PARADE & CARNIVALE

UPPER TRAFALGAR & HARDY STREETS
Fri 18 Oct, 5.30pm (Parade), 6.30-10pm (Carnivale)

Join us for the 25th Mask Parade! Make this the biggest opening night celebration yet for the Nelson Arts Festival, celebrating 25 years!
FamilyFree & KohaSpecial Events
  • free

MEDICINE WOMAN

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Fri 25 Oct, 6.30pm

Medicine Woman serves up blues inspired toe-tapping, full vocal harmony, rock originals with lyrics that provoke, inspire, and reach into your soul.
Free & KohaMusic
  • international

MIGHTY DUKE & THE LORDS

AUSTRALIA

NEUDORF VINEYARDS
Sat 19 Oct, 2pm

They’re back! If you saw them in 2016, then you’ll know that Mighty Duke & The Lords take ‘trop pop’ to a whole new level.
Music
  • nz

MR RED LIGHT

AOTEAROA

THEATRE ROYAL NELSON
Wed 23 Oct, 7pm

Mr Red Light is a man who attracts bad luck, so when he tries to rob a bank he fails miserably and ends up in a pie shop with three very uncooperative hostages and the world’s worst police negotiator.
ComedyTheatre
  • nz

MR RED LIGHT

AOTEAROA

ASB THEATRE MARLBOROUGH
Fri 25 Oct, 8pm

Mr Red Light is a man who attracts bad luck, so when he tries to rob a bank he fails miserably and ends up in a pie shop with three very uncooperative hostages and the world’s worst police negotiator.
ComedyTheatre
  • koha

MY GROOVES: Festival in Development

THEATRE ROYAL
Sun 20 Oct, 3pm

All are invited to watch as choreographer and dancers work together to form dance for the stage.
DanceFree & Koha
Selling Fast
  • nz

PECHAKUCHA

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Tue 22 Oct, 7.30pm

PechaKucha returns for its twelfth year at the Festival, with a diverse range of presentations from interesting and creative people.
Kōrero
  • free

PIC’S PIKI MAI

UPPER TRAFALGAR STREET & CHURCH STEPS
Fri 18 – Mon 28 Oct, dusk to midnight

In celebration of the 25th Nelson Arts Festival we’re thrilled to bring back crowd favourite Piki Mai, sponsored by none other than Pic’s Peanut Butter.
FamilyFree & KohaSpecial EventsVisual Arts
  • free

PITCH BLACK LIVE

CHURCH STEPS, UPPER TRAFALGAR STREET
Fri 25 Oct, 9-10pm

See ‘NZ’s Godfathers of Electronica’ playing their newest work inside the largest live-triggered video performance created in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Free & KohaMusic
  • international

PORTRAITS IN MOTION

GERMANY

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Sun 20 Oct, 7pm

What began as a one-to-one travelling theatre grew into a 16-year odyssey, turning photographs into magical flipbooks.
KōreroTheatre
  • koha

PUBLISHING’S NEW FRONTIERS

JOHNNY CASH ROOM, NMIT, 57 Nile Street, Nelson
Thu 24 Oct, 5.15pm

An evening for aspiring and established writers.
Free & KohaWorkshopsWriters
  • nz

PUKAPUKA TALKS: BACKING WILD CARDS

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sun 27 Oct, 3.30pm

Discover what happens when you team up feminist writer and playwright Renée, ONZM (born 1929), with journalist and debut novelist Becky Manawatu (born 1982).
Writers
  • nz
  • international

PUKAPUKA TALKS: CAGING SKIES

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sun 27 Oct, 1.30pm

Meet Nelson-based novelist Christine Leunens, whose novel Caging Skies is the inspiration for a major new Hollywood film.
Writers
Doctors who write
  • nz

PUKAPUKA TALKS: DOCTORS WHO WRITE

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sat 26 Oct, 3.30pm

Join three physicians – who are also poets, playwrights and prose writers – in conversation with medical student and writer Emma Espiner.
KōreroWriters
  • nz

PUKAPUKA TALKS: NATIVE SON

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Fri 25 Oct, 1.30pm

Join national literary taonga Witi Ihimaera in conversation with Guyon Espiner, discussing the revealing encore to his memoir, Māori Boy.
Writers
  • nz
  • international

PUKAPUKA TALKS: ON THE EDGE

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Fri 25 Oct, 11am

Chessie Henry and Miriam Lancewood reveal what drove them to write such intimate memoirs about their extraordinary lives.
Writers
  • nz

PUKAPUKA TALKS: SOUTHERN SCIENCE

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Mon 28 Oct, 11am

Naomi Arnold and Rebecca Priestley, both award-winning science writers, explore what’s above and beyond Aotearoa New Zealand.
Writers
  • nz

PUKAPUKA TALKS: THE ABSOLUTE BOOK

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sat 26 Oct, 1.30pm

Elizabeth Knox’s new novel, The Absolute Book, is being heralded as a triumph of fantasy, grounded in the reality and challenges of the times in which we live.
Writers
Speakers for the Friday Poem event
  • nz

PUKAPUKA TALKS: THE FRIDAY POEM

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Fri 25 Oct, 3.30pm

Something exciting – fun, dazzling, often powerful – is going on in New Zealand poetry.
Writers
  • nz

PUKAPUKA TALKS: THINKING BRUNCH 1 – ‘LIVING’ LONGER

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sat 26 Oct, 10am for brunch, 10.30am start

Meet four extraordinary people who are redefining what ‘ageing’ and ‘eldership’ mean, and learn some of their insights into having a long and fruitful life.
KōreroWriters
  • nz

PUKAPUKA TALKS: THINKING BRUNCH 2 – THE TIME TO ACT

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sun 27 Oct, 10am for brunch, 10.30am start

With a climate emergencies being declared in many places, we bring together a business leader, a researcher, a filmmaker, an activist and RNZ broadcaster Kim Hill to explore what this means in practice.
KōreroWriters

PUKAPUKA TALKS: WEST ISLAND

AOTEAROA / AUSTRALIA

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Mon 28 Oct, 1.30pm

Five notable New Zealanders who made their lives in Australia are the subject of this fascinating biographical investigation by award-winning author Stephanie Johnson.
Writers
  • free

RABBIT HŌLE

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Fri 25 Oct, 10pm

Rabbit Hōle is the musical collaboration of multi-instrumentalist and singer Sahn Bishop, drummer Bruce McGregor and saxophonist/EWI artist Simon Williams.
Free & KohaMusic
  • free

SCULPTURE IN THE PARK

FOUNDERS HERITAGE PARK
Sat 19-Mon 28 Oct, 1pm – dusk

Throughout the Festival, Nelson artist Lee Woodman will be working on a piece focused on utilising recycled materials.
Free & KohaVisual Arts
  • international

SHOOGLENIFTY

SCOTLAND

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Sat 19 Oct, 8pm

Shooglenifty’s unique blend of traditional Celtic folk embraces a wealth of world-music flavours ranging from electronica to alternative rock.
Music
  • nz
  • international

SKYSCRAPER STAN and The Commission Flats

AOTEAROA / AUSTRALIA

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Sat 26 Oct, 8pm

Hailing from Auckland and now based in Melbourne, Skyscraper Stan is turning heads on the indie alt-country music scene.
Music
  • nz

STILL LIFE WITH CHICKENS

AOTEAROA

SUTER THEATRE
Sat 26 & Sun 27 Oct, 7pm

An intimate, heart-warming and funny play about life, love, loss and the fact that some friendships are just clucking surprising!
ComedyTheatre
  • free

STREET THEATRE WITH ROLLICKING ENTERTAINMENT!

VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN NELSON, TASMAN AND MARLBOROUGH
Tue 22 – Fri 25 Oct

Roll up and join the exciting, terrifying and genuinely funny dastardly duo of Rollicking Entertainment. Come laugh, gasp and cheer – the carnival is in town!
CircusComedyFamilyFree & Koha
  • free

SUN CITY SOUL

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Sat 26 Oct, 6.30pm

Sun City Soul is a six-piece soul band, complete with a funked-up horn section and fine home-grown and international musicians.
Free & KohaMusic
  • nz

TAONGA MOANA

AOTEAROA

NELSON CENTRE OF MUSICAL ARTS
Sat 19 Oct, 7.30pm

New Zealand’s premier national chamber choir, Voices New Zealand, performs a stunning and musical reminder of the beauty and importance of our oceans.
Music
  • nz

THE CLEARING

AOTEAROA

THEATRE ROYAL
Sat 19 Oct, 8pm

New Zealand’s longest-running contemporary dance company returns to Nelson with a stunning new work from internationally celebrated choreographer Ross McCormack.
Dance
  • free

THE HERMSEN FAMILY BAND

GRANARY FESTIVAL CAFÉ
Wed 23 Oct, 6pm

Nelson’s own Hermsen family is synonymous with locally produced, quality grassroots music.
Free & KohaMusic
  • nz
  • international

THE SOUTH AFREAKINS

AOTEAROA / SOUTH AFRICA

SUTER THEATRE
Sun 20 & Mon 21 Oct, 7pm

An hilarious and heartbreaking show about country, loss, and the impossible search for home.
Theatre
  • nz

THE TOPP TWINS

AOTEAROA

THEATRE ROYAL
Sun 27 Oct, 7pm; Mon 28 Oct, 3pm

What better way to celebrate the Festival’s 25th anniversary than to bring back the headline act from that very first year, the glorious, audacious and hilarious Topp Twins!
ComedyMusic
  • nz

THE WISP

AOTEAROA

BROOK WAIMARAMA SANCTUARY
Mon 28 Oct, 6.30pm

Follow The Wisp to an exciting outdoor setting.
FamilyTheatre
  • nz

THE WONDERWOMBS

AOTEAROA

ASB THEATRE MARLBOROUGH
Wed 23 Oct, 7pm

From New Zealand’s leading circus company comes a tenacious all-wombs troupe whose breath-taking performances are wrapped in an all-knowing nod and cheeky wink.
Circus
  • nz

THE WONDERWOMBS

AOTEAROA

THEATRE ROYAL NELSON
Fri 25 & Sat 26 Oct, 8pm

From New Zealand’s leading circus company comes a tenacious all-wombs troupe whose breath-taking performances are wrapped in an all-knowing nod and cheeky wink.
Circus
  • nz
  • international

THIS IS TAMI NEILSON!

AOTEAROA / CANADA

FESTIVAL MAINSTAGE
Mon 21 Oct, 7pm

Multi award-winning Canadian-born New Zealand singer-songwriter Tami Neilson uses her powerhouse voice to blend country, soul and rockabilly into her signature high-octane performances.
Music
Up Up and Away show
  • nz

UP AND AWAY

AOTEAROA

MAKE/SHIFT SPACE, Nelson CBD
Sun 20 Oct – 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm
When the venue has been confirmed, we’ll update details here.

A playful and gentle theatrical performance created exclusively for babies.
FamilyTheatre
  • koha

VOICE COLLECTIVE

MAKE/SHIFT SPACE, Nelson CBD
Sun 20 Oct, from 5pm
When the venue has been confirmed, we’ll update details here.

Everyone is invited to join the pop-up singing group VOICE COLLECTIVE for a night with Dolly Parton's 'Jolene'.
Free & KohaMusic

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