Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora Ki Kirikiriroa 2023 kicks off

The Hamilton Arts Festival programme has just been launched. Image / Supplied

The Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora Ki Kirikiriroa, formerly known as the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival is finally back after Covid-19 cancelled the event last year. The 2023 festival runs from February 24 to March 5, mainly at the Hamilton Gardens but also at other venues around the city.

Tickets for the events are available online via Ticketek. For more information visit the festival’s website.

The event schedule is below.

● Festival hub, from February 24 to March 5, every day from 5pm at the Hamilton Gardens

Free and live entertainment celebrating local artists and musicians, starting at 5pm every night. The Festival Hub is also the place to savour the sights and sounds of the festival, relax with a drink and enjoy some incredible locally-produced food. Come together with friends and whānau and take in the festival vibes, mingle with artists or enjoy a stunning sunset over Turtle Lake.

● Festival opening night, February 24, from 5pm to 9pm at the Hamilton Gardens

There’ll be live music from 5pm, including kapa haka and the legendary Hamilton Big Band (7pm) rocking the University of Waikato Stage of Enlightenment. At Harkness Henry’s Emporium of Scintillating Wonders, experience Figment, a circus performance like no other. Bar and food trucks will be on-site. Free event.

● The Soundtrack from Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, concert, February 24, 8pm at the Hamilton Gardens’ Rhododendron Lawn

Milan Borich (Pluto), Lou’ana, Zoe Moon, Sebastian Holland Dudding and opera stars Samson Setu, Taka Vuli, Manase Latu and Ipu Laga’aia will be singing the songs from the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge!, one of cinema’s most magical musical creations. Tickets are available online.

● Tunnelling Wormholes, dance, February 25, 2pm and 4.30pm at the Italian Renaissance Garden

This performance is a new contemporary dance duet that gently teases out the wandering threads of imagination through self-conscious showmanship. Tunnelling Wormholes, choreographed by Miriam Eskildsen in collaboration with Sharvon Mortimer and Elani Austin-Tennant, explores themes of identity, friendship, joy, and loss. With songs excerpted by Daniel Johnston and musical composition by Austin-Tennant. Tickets are available online.

● Tiny Ruins, music, February 25, 5pm at the Chinoiserie Garden

A rare blend of eloquent lyrical craft and explorative musicianship, the songs of Tiny Ruins span delicate folk, lustrous dream pop and ebullient psychedelia. For the Arts Festival, Tiny Ruins will be drawing from their impressive back catalogue and also performing material from their anticipated fourth studio album. Tickets are available online.

The Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora ki Kirikiriroa was previously known as the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival. Image / Supplied

● Enid Blyton’s Naughty Threesome, theatre show, February 25 and 26, 6.30pm at the English Flower Garden

Actors Penny Ashton, Lori Dungey and Ross Devereux will use your suggestions to improvise and solve epic adventures in a spiffing musical in the style of beloved children’s author Enid Blyton. Tickets are available online.

● Sunset Symphony, concert, February 25, 7.15pm at the Hamilton Gardens’ Rhododendron Lawn

For more than 10 years, this free event has brought Hamilton together to celebrate glorious orchestral music, whānau, friends, food and fireworks. Bar facilities and food options available.

● Niko Ne Zna, concert, February 25, from 8pm at the Surrealist Garden

This seven-piece band will bring a hot and spicy taste of the Balkans to Hamilton. Niko Ne Zna plays original music as well as classic songs from the Romani-soaked Balkan States. Hailing from the capital, the band is a staple of the Aotearoa festival circuit, frequently selling out shows across the country and in Australia. Tickets are available online.

● Rock Follies Forever, concert, February 25 at 9.30pm and February 26 at 8pm at Harkness Henry’s Emporium, Hamilton Gardens Pavilion

Singers Jackie Clarke, Laura Daniel and Jennifer Ward-Lealand perform an ode to the fabulousness of the cult British TV series Rock Follies. The concert features original songs from the TV show (penned by Andy MacKay from Roxy Music) alongside a glam selection of stonking mega-hits of the era. Tickets are available online.

● Ngā Tohu O Te Taiao, multidisciplinary performance, February 25 and 26, 8.15pm at the Te Parapara Garden

This performance infuses live sand art, matauranga Māori storytelling and traditional Māori instruments. Take a journey back in time as Rikki Solomon (a practitioner of Maramataka Māori and Astrology) narrates accompanied by the mesmerising live sand art of Marcus Winter and music by James Webster (taonga pūoro artist/carver/tamoko). Tickets are available online.

● Mad Hatter Mystery, activity, February 25 and 26 and March 1, 4 and 5 at the Surrealist Garden

Apocalypse Lounge Room Break is back with a new mystery for children and adults. The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts. And now the tarts have gone missing, and the Queen is not pleased. Take a trip down the rabbit-hole and discover peculiar puzzles and surreal solutions. Tickets are available online.

● Showy Ovaries live, comedy, February 26, 2pm at Harkness Henry’s Emporium, Hamilton Gardens Pavilion

Born in lockdown and taking the podcast world by storm, this show is a live podcast recording and comedy show where podcaster Penny Ashton will quiz actor, writer and journalist Elisabeth Easther about her life, loves and ovaries, and tell the patriarchy where to go. Tickets are available online.

● Taming of the Shrew, theatre play, February 26 and March 4, 2pm at the Medici Court, Hamilton Gardens

Shakespeare’s classic tale about gender and social hierarchy gets a feminist reimagining from co-directors Benny Marama and Louise Blackstock. In this sharp romantic comedy, Lucentio wants to marry Bianca. However, to do that, Bianca’s shrewish sister Katherina has to marry first. Enter Petruchio - a wicked bachelor charged with the unenviable task of “taming the shrew”. Free event.

● Downtown Sounds, concert, February 26, 4pm at Victoria On the River, Hamilton Central

Local band Looking for Alaska will be performing a free concert with special guests. Bring some snacks, grab some dinner and soak in the sounds while the sun sets across the Waikato River.

● Mansfield In Her Own Words - Unplugged, concert, February 26, 6.45pm at the Mansfield Garden

For the centenary of New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield’s death, songwriters including Anna Coddington, Lawrence Arabia and Julia Deans will perform original music inspired by Mansfield’s poems. Tickets are available online.

● The Golden Ass, theatre play, February 26 at 7.30 and March 2 at 8pm at the Medici Court, Hamilton Gardens

Master storyteller Michael Hurst catapults this fantastical, hilarious and sometimes terrifying satire - originally written in the first century by Apuleius - into the 21st century. This one-man show is the tale of Lucius, a young man who, driven by desperate desire and insatiable curiosity, performs an act of magic on himself and accidentally transforms into a donkey. With music from acclaimed composer John Gibson. Tickets are available online.

● What We Do in the Shadows, film screening, February 26 at 8.45 at the Chinoiserie Garden

Written by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, this hilarious mockumentary transposes traditional vampires to the setting of modern suburban Wellington. Three ancient bloodsuckers and one reluctant newcomer demonstrate unusual frankness, explaining to an unseen documentarian the highs and lows of 21st-century New Zealand living. Programmed by Hamilton Film Society. Bring your own seat or rug. Tickets are available online.

● Tierra Y Mar Flamenco Project, performance, March 1, 6pm at the Medici Court, Hamilton Gardens

World-class flamenco musicians explore the boundaries of flamenco dance, composition and improvisation. Flamenco guitarist and composer Paul Bosauder spent 15 years studying and creating with Spain’s elite flamenco artists. His debut album Tierra y Mar topped the NZ Independent Album charts. The performance at the festival will include award-winning flamenco dancer Roshanne Wijeyeratne, vocalist Zoe Velez and flamenco violinist Tristan Carter. Tickets are available online.

● Cut!, music show, March 1 at 6.30pm and 8.30pm at Harkness Henry’s Emporium, Hamilton Gardens Pavilion

Hamilton Operatic Society presents a show featuring songs which were cut from well-known musicals like Little Shop of Horrors, Hamilton, Evita, Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret. Directed by David Sidwell, with Waikato vocalists Julia Booth, Jess Ruck-Nu’u, Helen Drysdale-Dunn, Scot Hall, Alex Pelham-Waerea and Sam Cleaver. Tickets are available online.

● Hanna, theatre play, March 1, 7.30pm at The Meteor Theatre, Hamilton

This acclaimed one-woman play by Sam Potter tells the story of Hanna, a young mum. Being a young mum is supposed to be hard, but for Hanna, raising her beloved daughter Ellie is the only thing she’s ever been brilliant at. That’s until a DNA test reveals the staggering news that Ellie is not Hanna’s child, and her ‘real’ parents want to meet her. Directed by Jennifer Ward-Lealand and performed by Cassandra Woodhouse. Tickets are available online.

● Gianni Schicci by Puccini, concert, March 1 at 8pm and March 4 at 6.30pm, at the Medici Court, Hamilton Gardens

The University of Waikato Conservatorium of Music presents this fast-paced one-act opera created by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. It combines screeching social satire and macabre comedy as it follows the story of the Donati family mourning the passing of their patriarch. Their false tears become real when they discover that the family fortune has been left to a monastery. Directed by John Davies and conducted by Euan Safey, with Francis Cowan on piano, Gianni Schicchi stars Alfred Fonoti-Fuimaono and features the glorious aria ‘O mio babbino caro’. Tickets are available online.

● Vertigo, film screening, March 1, 8.45pm at the Chinoiserie Garden

An Alfred Hitchcock-directed masterpiece, Vertigo is strange and hypnotic. James Stewart plays a retired detective persuaded to investigate the wife of an old university acquaintance, a woman who believes she is haunted by the past. They fall in love, but all is not what it seems. Curated by Hamilton Film Society. Bring your own seat or rug. Tickets are available online.

● A Rare Bird, theatre play, March 2 and 3, 6.30pm at the Char Bagh Garden

Writer Elisabeth Easther wrote this one-person play as an hommage to ornithologist Perrine Moncrieff, who wrote the 1925 guide New Zealand Birds and How To Identify Them and undertook efforts to preserve bird habitats and species in the Nelson Tasman region. The play explores the exploits of an extraordinary woman and reveals the vital role Moncrieff played in helping to conserve the flora and fauna of Aotearoa. Performed by Easther and directed by Kerryn Palmer. Tickets are available online.

● A Trojan War, theatre show, March 2 and 3, 7pm at the Surrealist Garden

This theatre show is a frantic and hilarious mash-up with a style which could be described as Monty Python’s Flying Circus meets The Mighty Boosh. Five flirtatious performers meet you at the door, show you to your seat, and flirt with you. Then they tell the story – with you. Like a wild dress-up party, this show combines theatrical magic, twisted pop songs and explosive wit. Directed by Leo Gene Peters, and starring Cherie Moore, Jack Buchanan, Jonathan Price, and Andrew Paterson. With sound design from Sam Clavis. Tickets are available online.

● Big J Stylez, theatre show, March 2 and 3, 7pm at The Meteor Theatre

Actor Jacob Dombroski, known from Shortland Street, returns to the stage with his revolutionary award-winning solo show, a story about strength, whānau and dreams. Opening up his life and heart, Dombroski invites you to step inside his whare. Tickets are available online.

● Garry Starr Performs Everything, theatre play, March 2 at 8.30pm and March 3 at 7.30pm at Harkness Henry’s Emporium, Hamilton Gardens Pavilion

Produced and performed by Damien Warren-Smith, this show follows the story of disgraced actor Garry Starr who defies his critics by performing every genre of theatre possible. Starr tears through styles with little regard for personal safety and even less regard for art, proving his talents to himself. Directed by Cal McCrystal. Tickets are available online.

● Home-Grown Musicals: Greatest Hits, concert, March 2, 6.30pm at Harkness Henry’s Emporium, Hamilton Gardens Pavilion

Songs from three locally-written musicals by composer Chris Williams. The songs will come from Williams’ State Highway 48, The Quest and The Rug, and will be performed by New Zealand’s most celebrated music theatre diva, Delia Hannah. She will be joined by Broadway Dreams co-founder Patrick Kelly, plus a host of local talent. Tickets are available online.

● Karl Jenkins: The Armed Man, concert, March 2, 7.30 at the Rhododendron Lawn at the Hamilton Gardens

Hamilton City Brass will be joined by a Festival Chorus made of members from various Hamilton and Waikato choirs to perform ‘The Armed Man (A Mass for Peace)’. The piece was commissioned in 1999 to mark the transition from one millennium to another and reflects on the passing of ‘the most war-torn and destructive century in human history”, looking forward in hope to a more peaceful future. Bring your own blanket. Tickets are available online.

● Sex, Lies and Betrayal, cabaret, March 2 at 8.30pm and March 3 at 8pm at the Modernist Garden

This one-woman cabaret features reimagined classics by Cole Porter, Christina Aguilera, Frank Sinatra, Amy Winehouse, Billie Eilish and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Set to a lavish vintage score, the glossy world of Hollywood and the scandals behind the scenes come to life in this tell-all true story of a glamorous star known only as ‘Miss Nightingale’. Tickets are available online.

● Trial and Tribulation, performance, March 2 to 5 at the Picturesque Garden

Suitable for all ages, Trial and Tribulation is a contemporary dance and theatre work that takes you on a journey through the Picturesque Garden. A relaxing afternoon stroll along a beautiful garden path is suddenly interrupted. Unexpected events and diversions occur, and surprising challenges must be overcome along the way. Free event.

● Te Kaahu, music, March 3, 8pm at the Te Parapara Garden

Christchurch/Ōtautahi-born singer Theia (Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Tiipa) is bringing her critically acclaimed reo rangatira project Te Kaahu back to her haukāinga. Te Kaahu honours the craft and skill of Māori songwriting and storytelling, and the project’s debut album Te Kaahu O Rangi pays tribute to Theia’s tūpuna wāhine. It also shines a light on the beauty and vulnerability in waiata Māori. Tickets are available online.

● Te Tupua - The Goblin, theatre, March 3, 6pm at the Medici Court, Hamilton Gardens

This is a solo performance written and presented by John G Davies, who is celebrating 50 years in theatre as an actor, writer, director and tutor. In the year 1790, a Scottish boy is banished from his Highland home and finds refuge aboard a ship. After 15 years at sea, he is cast onto the shoreline of Aotearoa. The fight for survival begins. Tickets are available online.

● Haus of YOLO - The Dust Palace, performance, March 3 at 8.15pm and March 4 at 9.30pm at Harkness Henry’s Emporium, Hamilton Gardens Pavilion

This performance is jam-packed with extraordinary circus skills and sewing chaos. The show is a visually stunning and exhilarating exploration of the modern middle-class slavery of fast fashion. R18. Tickets are available online.

● The Boy with Wings, puppet theatre, March 4 at 11am and 2pm at The Meteor Theatre

In this high-tech fast-paced digital world, The Boy with Wings offers families an alternative to ‘screen time’, using puppetry, songs, storytelling, and exquisite hand-crafted sets to wow the audience. It is a comic, touching, and environmentally-focused story that dares us all to follow our dreams. Story concepts and creation by Bridget, Roger and Comfrey Sanders. Originally directed by Dan Allan. Designed specifically for children aged 5 to 9. Tickets are available online.

● University of Waikato Music Showcase, concert, March 4, 12pm at The Piazza, Hamilton Gardens

Be carried away by the sublime sounds of classical piano and opera as four of Waikato Conservatorium’s finest musicians perform an hour of beautiful music. Featuring pianists Fergus Byett and Jonathan Dunlop, and leading voices from the Conservatorium of Music Masters in Opera programme. Free entry.

● Tutus on Tour, dance, March 4 at 1.30pm and 7pm, and March 5 at 1.30pm at Clarence Street Theatre, Hamilton

A carefully curated collection of five works which encapsulate the history of ballet. Le Papillon and After the Rain showcase the intimate magic of a couple dancing together, Nobody Takes Me Seriously is a solo set to Tim Finn’s Kiwi classic, and Cold Winter’s Waiting and Holberg Suite are works for eight dancers. Performed by the Royal New Zealand Ballet. Tickets are available online.

● The Soundtracks From Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs & Pulp Fiction, concert, March 4, 8pm at the Rhododendron lawn

Originally planned for this year’s canned festival, this event will be entertaining festival attendees next year. Kiwi music icons Tami Neilson, Laughton Kora (Kora), Milan Borich (Pluto) and Booga Beazly (Head Like A Hole) perform songs from Quentin Tarantino’s movies. Bring your own seating. Tickets are available online.

● The Great Kiwi Break Off, dance, March 5, 3pm at Victoria on the River

For the first time in over a decade, Kirikiriroa will host a breakdancing battle. With breakdancing being included in the Paris 2024 Olympic sports programme, this event will feature the best breakers in New Zealand as they gear up for the next Olympics. Free event.

● This Is Kiwi - Indigo Festival, March 5, from 4pm to 9pm in the themed gardens of Hamilton Gardens

This five-hour “festival within a festival” will bring together over 200 performers representing the many cultures that make up Hamilton Kirikiriroa’s diverse population. Free event.

● Hello Darkness, theatre play, March 5, 7.30pm at The Meteor Theatre, Hamilton

This moving and sometimes unexpectedly humorous one-man show featuring Roy Ward (The Brokenwood Mysteries) follows a man reflecting on the meaning of his life as he approaches the end of his. Tickets are available online.

● Vivaldi by Candlelight, concert, March 5, 8pm at the Egyptian Garden

Join Orchestras Central Trust Ensemble and soloists for a magical evening of Vivaldi, Bach and Albinoni. In the candlelit garden at dusk, the audience will embark on a timeless journey through Bach’s restful Air on the G string, Albinoni’s sweet oboe concerto and the mysterious flute solo in La Notte - The Night by Vivaldi. The evening will conclude with Vivaldi’s virtuosic violin concerto Spring and Summer from The Four Seasons. Featuring soloists Andrew Beer, Martin Lee and Luca Manghi. Tickets are available online.

● Fever: Return of the Ula, cabaret show, March 5, 8pm at Harkness Henry’s Emporium, Hamilton Gardens Pavilion

This special cabaret show showcases the savage vogue stomps and luscious sways of Pasifika trans and queer supernovas, with choreography by Fame NZ artist and award-winner Amanaki Prescott-Faletau. This show is a cultural reset that centres queer indigenous bodies. To some, it will be an education, a history lesson, a night out with the girls, a kiki, a date night, or a laugh. But for others, it’s a reminder, a reference - a reclamation. Tickets are available online.