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2026 Festival Highlights
2026 Pānga WhetiwaraEvents
Overall attendance
Artists, crew and event staff engaged
Audience satisfaction
New audiences
Wellington residents agreed that events like the Festival make Wellington a more enjoyable place to live
Pieces of media coverage
Events
Overall attendance
Artists, crew and event staff engaged
Audience satisfaction
New audiences
Wellington residents agreed that events like the Festival make Wellington a more enjoyable place to live
Pieces of media coverage
Events
Overall attendance
Artists, crew and event staff engaged
Audience satisfaction
New audiences
Wellington residents agreed that events like the Festival make Wellington a more enjoyable place to live
Pieces of media coverage
After a whirlwind three weeks, the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts has officially wrapped up its 40th year! 🎉
THE SHOW MUST GO ON: OP-ED BY ANGELA GREEN
"This isn’t just about the Festival, but what sits behind it: decades of relationships, systems and creative infrastructure. It’s the Wellington Jazz Festival, the Kiri Te Kanawa Song Quest, Tāwhiri Warehouse, and our workshop that builds sets for productions here and across Australasia. Major creative producers like Tāwhiri create jobs, generate economic activity by attracting visitors, support local businesses, and ensure creative workers can make a living. Essential assets that took generations to build are at risk."
In a new Op-Ed, our Executive Director Angela Green reflects on what it takes to keep the show on the road - and why investing in arts and culture matters to the future of Wellington.
Article Magazine
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Experience Benjamin Clementine
Singer, performer, composer, actor – Mercury Prize winner Benjamin Clementine makes his Aotearoa debut at Wellington Jazz Festival next month. Widely regarded as one of contemporary music’s singular voices, here are four reasons you should book your tickets to Benjamin Clementine’s Back to Basics tour now.
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Jazz Festival Commission: Te Ao Kōhatu
Wellington drummer and composer Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa (Ruawaipu, Ngāti Porou) brings together a unique ensemble for the 2026 Wellington Jazz Festival commission Te Ao Kōhatu. We caught up with the in-demand musician on the line from New York City where he’s been spending time with his partner and friends in between two UK and European tours and ahead of his return to Te Whanganui- a-Tara for the Festival in October.
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30 Years of Wellington Jazz Festival
Wellington Jazz Festival marks its 30th birthday this year. We catch up with one of the event’s founders, Simon Bowden, to take a look back over the years.