News - 2025 Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival reveals full programme
/ Megan MossToday following an enthusiastic response to previous announcements A Streetcar Named Desire and SIX The Musical, the 2025 Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival programme has been revealed.
Each March, the Festival celebrates the city through a series of curious, energetic, world leading and groundbreaking arts experiences. The eighteen day festival, running from Thursday 6 - Sunday 23 March 2025, will invite audiences from across the motu to fall in love with Tāmaki Makaurau through the arts.
“The 2025 Festival is all about inviting audiences to be curious, have fun, and fall in love with Tāmaki Makaurau through the arts,” says Bernie Haldane, Kaitohu Toi | Artistic Director of Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival. “This year’s programme is bursting with vibrant experiences that will not only inspire but also celebrate the heart and soul of our city. Whether you are discovering a new artist, dancing in the last of the summer sun, or joining in the good vibes of Festival Garden, there’s something for everyone to enjoy and we hope you will be left seeing our city in a new light.”
Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival will open with a free event in Aotea Square Kia Kori! Let’s Move!, a dance party hosted by Betty-Anne of Ardijah, Thomas Stowers and Julia Deans, with grooves from legendary band, The Levites, before taking the opening night energy to events across the city.
Aotea Square will be home to the Festival Garden and Spiegeltent - the social centre of the Festival. Whether it’s after work drinks with friends, enjoying live music, or a quick break from dashing from an exhilarating matinee to a wondrous evening performance, artists and audiences are invited to indulge in the Festival energy. Weekend fun, including Whānau Day on the first weekend, will be the opportunity for our Tamariki to take over the space, exploring art and activities for free.
Audiences will experience a great night out that is bright, bold and full of joy with the fun, high energy and a little bit naughty, SMASHED - the Nightcap, an Australian award-winning cabaret featuring fierce drag and circus. Animal - Cirque Alfonse from Canada debuts a hysterically funny and ridiculous circus show suitable for adults and children alike, and the Soweto Gospel Choir bring their extraordinary talent from South Africa with two different shows in the festival line-up, one celebrating the history of House dance music with an Aria-nominated DJ, the second showcasing traditional gospel freedom songs.
American contemporary dance company, Lula Washington Dance Theatre from Los Angeles will appear in Aotearoa for the first time ever, with international premieres of two brand new, dynamic works. Fresh from Edinburgh Fringe, New Zealand company Trick of the Light will present Suitcase Show using beautiful dioramas to tell stories of love and death. Personal by Jodee Mundy (Australia) will bring a blend of performance, storytelling, multimedia and animation about the contradictions of living in two worlds. The atmospheric and immersive Belle - A Performance of Air by NZ collaborators Malia Johnston, Rowan Pierce and Eden Mullholand, will encompass a mesmerising fusion of theatre and aerial arts. All of these shows join the previously announced exclusive NZ season of Scottish Ballet’s powerful adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, and Auckland Theatre Company’s A Mixtape for Maladies, contemporary Asian storytelling at its best. The Festival’s development programme, “Seed of an Idea” will feature a reading of Ngā Whakamāoritanga | Translations, a play about language and its importance to our existence.
The middle weekend of the Festival sees musical artists let their souls sing with Toiere, a specially curated selection of opera arias that have been translated into te reo Māori and featuring a commission of a new aria for the 2025 Festival, and Island Vibes, a silky smooth summer-nights band immersed deep in the soul of the Pacific.
2025 will see the introduction of the first Indigenous Music Series for the Festival and Aotearoa. E ai ki te kōrero a te Kaihautū Māori, a Ataahua Papa, “He kaupapa whakahirahira tēnei. He tuatahitanga tēnei ki te Ahurei, ki Tāmaki Makaurau, ki Aotearoa hoki. Ko te kaupapa matua o tēnei kohinga puoro, ko te rere o te reo Māori, ko te rere o ngā reo taketake o te ao hoki ki ngā tōpito katoa o Tāmaki Makaurau i tēnei tau, tae noa ki ngā tau kei te heke mai”.
Whiua ki te Ao: A celebration of waiata reo Māori will feature the stunning vocals of Maisey Rika and a collective of talented musicians responsible for the recent release of Aotearoa Songbook. Maya Piata uses her eclectic background to mould her own unique style by pulling inspiration from her hometown, New Orleans, alongside the rich culture of her New Zealand roots. Kulāiwi & Kaumakaiwa are performers, songwriters and composers engaging indigenous Hawaiian thought to address today's issues through music, chant and sharing of spirit. Delbert Anderson mixes traditional sounds with jazz - tunes inspired by the Navajo Nation landscape, historical events and a desire to preserve and educate about Diné history.
Joining the Festival’s music slate is Tami Neilson: The F Word, bringing a feminist country songbook for International Women's Day, and Irish performer Camile O’Sullivan with a dedication to the songs of Sinēad O’Connor, Leonard Cohen, David Bowie and more.
Witness fascinating histories with the already announced exclusive NZ season of global pop phenomenon SIX the Musical, a high-octane musical experience about the wives of Henry VIII. Audiences can discover the star of the silver screen and inventor of the tech that resulted in WiFi in HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, and revisit the legendary Gene Kelly - A Life In Music for one night only with restored film clips, music performed byAuckland Philharmonia, and live on-stage narration from his widow Patricia Kelly.
Closing the Festival will be iconic Aotearoa dance company Black Grace with their new work This is Not a Retrospective, an interactive dance party celebrating 30 years.
Throughout the Festival will be audio described, NZSL interpreted and relaxed performances.
The Festival’s award-winning Access & Inclusion initiative provides low-cost tickets to our Deaf and disabled communities, and the ticket for their companion is provided for free. (Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival received the Arts Access Creative New Zealand Arts For All Award in 2018.).
Tamariki and adult learners will have the chance to interact with the Festival through school matinees, a programme of master classes and a whānau day of activities geared towards younger audiences. The Festival has 3,000 free tickets available to school students for school bookings to selected shows.
Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival 2025 is supported by core funders Auckland Council and Creative New Zealand, major funder Foundation North, and a suite of trusts, partners, patrons and donors, who together help the Festival deliver its unique programme of events every March.
Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival
6 March 2025 – 23 March 2025
Presented across Tāmaki Makaurau in venues and outdoor spaces including a Festival hub in Aotea Square, throughout the heart of the city, and around the Auckland region.
Tickets for all shows are on sale now at https://www.aaf.co.nz/
New Zealand’s rising pop sensation PRINS returns home to Kiwi stages in 2025 with her much-anticipated Heaven or Hell tour, a show promising to be her most daring and captivating yet.
Live Nation and Jubilee Street Management today announce an impressive lineup for the 2025 Australian and New Zealand comedy festival seasons including outstanding comics touring stand-alone headline shows.
Bow to battle doom lords CONAN, as they’re taking over our lands once again.
Amble, the three-piece folk group hailing from Ireland that have taken the world by storm, today announced their debut shows in Australia & New Zealand for March 2025.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of his breakthrough solo debut album Heartbreaker, multi-Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Ryan Adams is set to embark on his Heartbreaker ’25 World Tour, bringing the iconic album and more to audiences across New Zealand in October 2025.
Today following an enthusiastic response to previous announcements A Streetcar Named Desire and SIX The Musical, the 2025 Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival programme has been revealed.
To celebrate thirty-six years of memories and milestones, the band announces Loud Forever - The Final Tour.
Greenstone Entertainment presents the Summer Concert Tour in January featuring an all-star line-up. Now, Greenstone Entertainment is stoked to announce local support artists for 2025.
GRAMMY® Award winning duo Twenty One Pilots are set to bring The Clancy World Tour to New Zealand and Australia this month starting in Auckland at Spark Arena on November 17 followed by Australian dates in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. The band has confirmed New Zealand groove-pop duo Balu Brigada as special guests for the tour.
The incomparable Chelsea Wolfe has announced her return to New Zealand in May 2025.
In the summer of January 2025, MG Live, Frontier Touring and Arena Touring present 90’S Mania - Live In Concert, the return of Europe’s #1 party act Vengaboys tour of Australia and New Zealand.
TEG Dainty and The Entertainment Lab is thrilled to announce An Evening with Bob
Geldof: Songs and Stories from an Extraordinary Life, on the 40th anniversary of the
legendary Live Aid concert.
Yours and Owls are delighted to welcome celebrated Australian singer and songwriter Brad Cox to the 2025 lineup. The ARIA-nominated, Golden Guitar-winning sensation from Jindabyne will grace you all with his booming voice and chart-toping country anthem presence.
As Good Things come to those who wait, we're thrilled to announce the headline sideshows from some of the artists on the huge Good Things Festival line up. Set your alarm clocks as these tickets won't last.
Today, Crowded House is delighted to announce 2 very special guests for their upcoming and highly anticipated national tour, across New Zealand and Australia in November.
Metallica has confirmed that its record-breaking M72 World Tour will be coming to New Zealand in November of 2025.
Tyler, The Creator announces a 2025 world tour in support of his forthcoming album CHROMAKOPIA, which is set for release this coming Monday, October 28th.
Yours and Owls release their first lineup today, featuring a lineup of exceptional talent to Wollongong City in 2025!
Paul Kelly today announces his biggest shows in Australia and New Zealand to date, and his only live shows for 2025: nine huge arenas in Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in August/September 2025… proudly presented by Frontier Touring, Triple M (AU) and Stuff (NZ).
Multi-platinum selling artist Cody Johnson today announces anticipated Australian and New Zealand headline tour dates, set to hit arenas down under in March 2025.
We warmed you up last weekend with our epic 10th Birthday Pre-Party; now it’s time to reveal the main event. Yours and Owls Festival will return to Wollongong City, Dharawal Country in 2025, on March 1st and 2nd.
Valhalla Touring presents the first ever New Zealand tour of one of modern metal's hottest and most exciting bands around today: Jinjer (Napalm Records).
Knotfest, the destination festival brand curated by Slipknot, returns to Australia in 2025. sentence excerpt
Back by popular demand, Irish Celtic infused pop icons, The Corrs are returning to Australia in February 2025 for three very special shows after a run of sold-out concerts in 2023.
British music icon Sir Cliff Richard announced his highly anticipated live tour for Australia and New Zealand 2025. These shows offer a rare chance to witness one of Britain’s most celebrated performers in a live setting.
Graham Norton’s first New Zealand tour which went on pre-sale yesterday, has received an incredible reaction right across New Zealand. Promotor TEG Dainty have quickly added new shows in all cities. Beloved Irish comedian, actor, author and television host Graham Norton will embark on his first ever live tour of New Zealand in March/April.
Off the back of a mammoth Summer, kickstarted by their iconic headline set at Glastonbury’s Other Stage and capped off with a sold-out North America tour, British rock outfit Idles will make their highly-anticipated return to Australia and New Zealand in January 2025 in support of their latest album, Tangk.
Valhalla Touring and Bird’s Robe is thrilled to announce the debut New Zealand tour of acclaimed Irish post-rock group God Is An Astronaut. The band will perform shows in Auckland & Wellington In February 2025.
Manuka Pharm Synthony in The Domain returns in 2025, with a stellar line-up featuring international acts Basement Jaxx, Darude, Cyril and Example (UK), as well as Kiwi acts Kora, Ladi6 and Th’ Dudes - with more to be announced.
MG Live, I OH YOU & Frontier Touring are pumped to announce Irish rap group Kneecap will venture down to Aotearoa next March 2025!
