Consuming culture is as much about seeing and connecting with others and their experiences as it is about feeding our insatiable appetite for stimulation. It’s an intimate act that allows us to see inside the hearts and minds of artists. Doing that – consuming arts and culture – is a vital part of the creative ecosystem. Even the least expressive among us are, in a sense, part of the creative community. This week’s Culture Compass offers several ways in which you can be an active participant in creating a thriving artistic landscape in Aotearoa… and even further afield.
Culture Compass
28th August, 2025Spring is here again. Frighteningly. It has sprung out like a jack-in-the-box that we could’ve sworn we just put away, didn’t we? And with it comes festivals – so many festivals. All across the motu there are days- and weeks-long events set to lure us out of hibernation and into daffodil season. Covering festivities in Nelson, Wellington, Hawke’s Bay and Auckland, this month’s Culture Compass may just tempt you into a little light domestic travel.Thanks to Grande Erivo-mania, the world has gone a wee bit Oz-nuts over the past year, and if that includes you, you might like to follow the grey asphalt road to our very own Emerald City – Central Hawke’s Bay – for the Spring Fling Festival. It’s a celebration of the region’s coastal walks, historic homesteads, gardens, markets and dining, and this year also includes a production of The Wizard of Oz. The festival runs throughout September and October with a wide range of events that will have you gallivanting through daffodil gardens, frolicking through farmland, and picnicking with peonies. You can sign up for workshops and masterclasses, or just plan a self-guided getaway, communing with nature and basking in spring’s promise of warmer weather and new beginnings.Carrying on the festival circuit, head further south in October for the Nelson Arts Festival, which holds the bragworthy title of Aotearoa’s longest-running arts festival. Taking place October 23 to November 2, the full programme was just released last week and includes an impressive collection of theatre, visual art, dance, circus, music, comedy, writer talks and – a festival favourite – the Mask Carnivale. Anthonie Tonnon, Anna Coddington, Dr Hinemoa Elder, Ali Mau, Chelsea Winter, Elizabeth Knox and Hayley Sproull have top billings, along with Australian contemporary circus company One Fell Swoop.In Tāmaki Makaurau, the younguns are getting inspired and inspiring others next month with We The Young, a brand-new youth arts festival from Auckland Live. Aimed firmly at tamariki and rangatahi, the festival features a mix of free and ticketed events, including a forest made of paper, a speed-painting competition, live theatre and radio, storytelling, workshops, the Stand Up Stand Out talent quest final and Checkmate, an immersive chess-inspired experience by artists Amigo & Amigo. Events will be held in Aotea Square throughout the upcoming school holidays, September 16 – 28, to help fill that occasionally harrowing two weeks.Auckland’s getting a glow-up next week when The Lightship, Australasia’s largest lightwall and likely the world’s most artsy car-handling facility, launches its 2025/26 season. Located at Bledisloe Wharf, the 110-metre-long, 13-metre-high art platform is powered by 8500 LED lights and presented by Port of Auckland. It’ll be unveiled on September 1 and is curated by the director of Whangārei Art Museum, Simon Bowerbank. Over the next year, six emerging and established artists will have their commissioned pieces exhibited on The Lightship, starting with Melbourne-based painter Esther Stewart. Harbour commuters and wharf strollers can take in this impressive installation that will significantly transform the appearance of Auckland’s waterfront from dusk till dawn until August 2026.The capital, ever the country’s brooding older brother with impeccable taste in music, is preparing for the annual Wellington Jazz Festival in October. Over five short days, October 15 – 19, there will be more than 100 gigs happening throughout the city in venues big, small, and really small. This year the festival is hosting three international stars making their Aotearoa debuts: Noongar artist Bumpy, five-time Grammy winner Samara Joy and two-time Grammy winner Gregory Porter. It will also be the debut of the highly anticipated Aotearoa Jazz Orchestra. Travel plans will need to be made promptly to secure decent digs for your stay. The final festival on our radar is Kōanga Festival in Tāmaki Makaurau. Held at Te Pou Theatre in Corban Estate Arts Centre, this two-weekend festival is a celebration of Māori performing arts that’s now in its 11th year. The headlining show this year is a rock show by Brady Peeti, What Happened to Mary-Anne, that features a live band, original music and a heartfelt story of identity. The Whānau Day (September 13) with theatre stages, kai, storytelling, music, games and kapa haka is the highlight of weekend one, along with Atamira Dance Company’s Kia Pohewatia (September 14 and 21). Central to the kaupapa of the festival is the Playwrights Programme in which selected emerging Māori playwrights spend three months developing scripts that will have readings at the festival during weekend two.