Book in for the Pacific Dance Festival, explore a new gallery and enjoy the last laughs of the NZ International Comedy Festival.
See a comedy show
Billy T Award nominee Janaye Henry (Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa) continues her run of Crush Season, the comedy show that takes audiences on a
Dust off your dancing shoes
The world-famous Red Bull Dance Your Style competition will kick off in Takutai Square, Britomart, this Friday. Host and dancer Lance Savali will welcome some of the best dancers from across the country to showcase their skills, as they adapt and improvise to contemporary tracks. There will be 16 competitors vying for the top spot, and the winner of the competition (voted on by the crowd) will have the opportunity to compete in the World Final in Frankfurt, Germany. The event will kick off at 4pm.
Hear a local act
Tiny Ruins, the indie folk band from Aotearoa, will bring their album release tour to an end this Saturday, with the finale show at the Hollywood Avondale. They’ve been celebrating the release of Ceremony, the band’s fourth album. Viva record reviewer Peter Baker recently considered the influences of songsmith Hollie Fullbrook, writing, “Informed by her daily dog walks and worldly observations, Ceremony is awash with coastal metaphors, hard truths, and whimsical wordplay.” Tickets are $45 and are available through Banishedmusic.com
Wairarapa Film Festival
The Wairarapa Film Festival is set to play in Masterton from today until Sunday, bringing stories about local people and places to the big screen. The festival will fill theatres with feature-length and short films, and offer talent development programmes for rangatahi keen to hone their filmmaking skills. Among the many films showing at the festival are The Pen by Guy Capper and Jemaine Clement (Ngāti Kahungunu); Shut Eye, produced by Celia Jaspers; and Te Rua, written and directed by Barry Barclay (Ngāti Apa). The festival runs from May 25 to 28 and will also take place in Martinborough in September.
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Head to a creative market
Over two hundred creative vendors will congregate under one roof this weekend, as the General Collective Lifestyle and Design Market kicks off at the Auckland Showgrounds in Greenlane. There will be stocks of homeware, jewellery, skincare, locally made art and clothing, along with a mug-painting workshop for those who fancy getting into their own creative flow. Several food vendors will also head to the market to serve up their treats, including Brooklyn Dogs, Blooms Pretzels, Cassia at Home, Crepes Creations and Cheese on Toast. The market will run from 9am to 3pm on May 28, and tickets are $5.
Go to an exhibition
Chevron Hassett’s (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Pākehā) work in the exhibition Far, far away is an exercise of correspondence between present and past self. The artist has made an installation in Artspace Aotearoa building on Karangahape Rd, with sculpture and displayed materials. It seeks to communicate an autobiographical experience of urban Indigeneity. On June 3, Tia Pohatu, one of the artists in the exhibition, will showcase her Indigenous Art History syllabus, utilising Hassett’s Far, far away as an illuminating context. The exhibition closes on June 10.
Head to the Wellington Food Show
The Food Show kicks off in Wellington, bringing some of the country’s best eats to the city. Guests will be able to catch cooking theatre, masterclasses and tasting markets, and pick up a sundry of NZ-made kai. Chefs like Julie Goodwin, Sam Low and Annabelle White will showcase their impressive skill sets. There’s even the opportunity to compete in a cake-off competition if you’re eager to display your own flair for baking. The Food Show will run at Sky Stadium from May 26 to 28. Tickets are available from Foodshow.co.nz
Explore a new gallery
Sumer, an art gallery that was based in Tauranga from 2018 to 2022, has made the shift to a striking 130-year-old storehouse in the city centre of Tāmaki Makaurau. The gallery is specifically dedicated to showcasing contemporary art and will open with its first exhibition next week. Nova will bring together the works of 20 young and lesser-known artists, including Cindy Huang, Ella Sutherland and Huseyin Sami. The gallery posits that though the collection doesn’t follow a specific theme, it “possesses a radiance and newness suggested by the title”. The gallery is located on Beach Rd in Auckland Central. The Nova exhibition opens on May 31, with an opening event from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, and runs until July 1.
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Auckland Photography Festival
The Auckland Festival of Photography will celebrate 20 years in its return this June, with over 55 exhibitions displaying the work of over 220 artists. There will be various showcases in-venue, online and across outdoor locations throughout Tāmaki Makaurau from May 31 to June 11. Robin Morrison: Road Trip is one of the exhibitions included in the festival run, which showcases the work of the innovative South Island photographer on a long, observant road trip in 1979. Morrison captured a new perspective of the South Island with his work, turning his attention to the built environment and people, rather than the mountains and rolling plains. Other exhibitions include Staring into the Sun by Luke Foley-Martin, Treasure of the West by Teja Appilla and Melanin Rising by Abhi Chinniah.
Book ahead
Sail into a murder mystery
The Barden Party, a travelling troupe featuring New Zealand actors, will welcome guests to a new, unusual performance from June 2. Butterfly Smokescreen is an immersive theatrical experience that will explore Hollywood-level drama, love triangles and scandal aboard a luxury super yacht. The Sea Breeze III in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour serves as the venue, where an Agatha Christie-ish murder may or may not take place. Tickets are available through Eventfinda.co.nz
Head to a dance festival
The Pacific Dance NZ Festival will kick off next week on June 1, inviting a diverse range of performances and events from Moana Nui a Kiwa. The Pacific Dance New Zealand director, Iosefa Enari MNZM, welcomes Pacific artists to the festival, many of whom will be coming to NZ from overseas. “I am thrilled that our performers are coming from Germany, Samoa, Brisbane, Sydney and Fiji. I am also humbled we are engaging with some of New Zealand’s top performance venues, Q Theatre, ASB Waterfront Theatre, Auckland Arts Gallery and the Auckland War Memorial Museum to name a few.”
The full programme has been announced and includes, of course, dance performances, but also brings seminars, community workshops, fashion shows and short film screenings. Manu Malo, a dance showcase directed by Aloali’i Tapu and developed during a residency in Hamburg, Germany, will open the festival at the ASB Waterfront Theatre. Tickets start from $45.
Book in for Kia Mau
Te Whanganui-a-Tara will welcome the return of Kia Mau on June 2, as the contemporary Indigenous arts festival sets the streets alight with dance, theatre, wānanga and hui, and visual art. The full programme has now been announced, with over 20 events set to take place. Highlights on the programme include storytelling showcase and reclamation Hikule’o; solo theatre piece Concerning The UFO Sighting Outside Mt Roskill, Auckland from Reon Bell (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungunu Ki Te Wairoa); The Haka Party Incident by Katie Wolfe (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Toa Rangatira); and Wellington Ballroom’s Arawhata. The festival will close on June 17. Ticket prices vary.
