Nuit Blanche returns to Napier streets for Hawke's Bay Arts Festival

The HB Arts Festival returns with a night of brilliant performances and magical discoveries.

The opening weekend of the Hawke's Bay Arts Festival will bring the streets of Napier to life once again.

On Saturday night, October 15, after a one-year hiatus, Napier's arts quarter will play host to Nuit Blanche - Art After Dark.

It's a night of brilliant performances and magical discoveries when Napier's galleries, back alleys, carparks, and lanes will feature contemporary art exhibitions, installations, live music, DJs, moving image projections, dance and street performance.

Discover the city through the lens of the arts and enjoy it in a unique way. Bring the whole family. Grab a drink or bite to eat from the local bars, cafés or restaurants, alongside delicious offerings from local food trucks and pop-up stalls.

Waiapu Cathedral will light up with White Rose - Mirrored Dreams by internationally renowned, Auckland-based Korean artist Hye Rim Lee.

This new digital projection work, created in partnership with 3D generalist Greg Smith, will be complemented by an exhibition of Lee's latest works at Ahuriri Contemporary Gallery.

Take your time and explore the many galleries in Napier's Arts Quarter including CAN, Tennyson Gallery, Boyd-Dunlop Gallery, Dept. of Curiosities and Fine Things, Cathedral Photo and Art Gallery, the Pottery Studio, MTG Hawke's Bay and many more.

Meet the artists and interact with each gallery's unique presentation for the night and be sure to visit Wardini Books for a late-night experience.

Don't miss the mesmerising The Air Between Us with aerial dance by Chloe Loftus and Rodney Bell or Out of the Blue, a technicolor illuminated shoal of fish and Flames of Plenty dancers, both roaming the streets of the CBD.

Check out Biggie & Smalls 2v2 All Style Dance Battle brought to you by Projekt Team, New Zealand's hip hop and street dance collective, with some of the baddest freestyle names in the country, teamed up with new and emerging freestyle dancers from Te Matau a Maui and the East Coast.

Find Katja Starke's Compliment Cycle, a feel good, interactive, light-up-in-the-dark, whimsical and roaming street performance act, complete with flowers and a typewriter to capture your compliment for a friend or a stranger.

Take in the Hawke's Bay Soul Choir in pop-up performances directed by internationally recognised choirmaster Stephan Zebe, with a unique repertoire to suit all soul, disco and Motown fans. End the night dancing away to some funky grooves by local DJs and bands.

There will be live music on the stage on the corner of Hastings and Tennyson streets including The Undergrand featuring Arahi and Patrick Power, Scarlett Eden Band, Campbell Burns and Brad Sanson.

For full schedules and information for Nuit Blanche, visit www.hbaf.co.nz.