Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival - free events and half price tickets

Rise of the Olive will bring some quirk and charm to the Hawke's Bay Arts Festival. Photo / Aden Meser

Tickets to this year’s Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival shows will be half price, or in some cases completely free, to encourage the region to have moments of joy after the cyclone.

Locally and internationally acclaimed acts are set to touch down in Te Matau-a-Māui in October, with the two-week festival running from October 13-29.

The programme offers something for everyone, presenting a variety of genres including circus, music dance, theatre, family events, visual arts, and literature.

“Things look a little different for the festival this year,” says festival director Pitsch Leiser.

“In the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, we at Arts Inc. Heretaunga knew that we wanted to offer something back to our region, and our community, that we love.”

360 ALLSTARS will perform at the Hawke's Bay Arts Festival. Photo / Matt Loncar

Leiser said the support of Mills Family Trust, ECCT and the Hawke’s Bay Foundation would enable them to make the festival “the most affordable and accessible ever”.

While most shows are priced from $25, half the usual price, others are being offered free of charge.

This includes headline act 360 ALLSTARS, a supercharged urban circus which has been seen by over one million people worldwide and sold out on Broadway, in Edinburgh and at the Sydney Opera House.

Suitable for all ages, two free shows will take place at the Napier Municipal Theatre and Toitoi Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre. Other free experiences include Napier’s street event Nuit Blanche and children’s tickets to the family show The Grumpiest Child in the World. The Festival in Schools Programme is also completely free for students in 2023.

A Festival for Free waitlist has also been established, with a number of free tickets to all shows being released in October to those who register early at www.hbaf.co.nz.

“This year has been an unimaginably tough one for our community and the last six months have created much hard work, loss, and personal suffering for many,” Leiser says.

“The idea behind 2023′s festival is to bring us together in celebration of our community and to create as many opportunities as possible for people to be able to participate, take a break and find joy and happiness in the arts.

“The power of us seeing the world through the lens of art, as a collective, cannot be underestimated.

“This is a festival for us all to enjoy. If you are someone who attends year after year, we can’t wait to see you again and please, bring your friends and spread the word. We want this to be the biggest, and most attended festival in its nine years running.

“And if you’ve never been before, this is your year. We encourage you to take a look at the programme, be curious and try something new. Whether you’re a lover of dance, of music, of comedy or of drama – there will be a show for you.”

The Festival programme is now online at www.hbaf.co.nz or available to pick up from local cafés, galleries, libraries, and i-sites across the region. Tickets to shows, whether paid or free, can be booked through www.hbaf.co.nz or from the box office at Toitoi Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre.