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Flight of Fancy
The Tauranga Arts Festival programme has just launched with an entertaining, imaginative and inspiring line-up for all ages and budgets, including many free events. Check out our top picks.
The Tauranga Arts Festival programme has just launched with an entertaining, imaginative and inspiring line-up for all ages and budgets, including many free events. Check out our top picks.
Tauranga Arts Festival has always been a joyous occasion with performances and events for all
ages — but this year is extra special, for not only is there a new team at the helm but the full 10-day festival returns for the first time after it was largely cancelled in 2021.
When you see the big top of the Carrus Crystal Palace rising on the waterfront at the southern end
of The Strand, that’s an exciting sign we haven’t long to wait for all the fun of the festival. It means
the music, comedy, theatre, workshops, speakers and free exhibitions are about to unroll on our doorstep from 19–29 October.
The festival’s artistic director Shane Bosher, an Arts Foundation Laureate in 2021, and Alex Ellis, associate artistic director and herself a performer, kept two mantras in mind when devising the
2023 programme: “Necessary conversations with vital voices, and provoking joy and belonging.” Intrigued? You should be!
Here are our top picks from the action-packed 2023 programme.
Mission Control: Mars
20 October, 4pm & 5pm
21 & 22 October, every hour from 10am–5pm
Baycourt
Ever wanted to join a galactic adventure? This highly interactive co-operative gaming experience
(for ages 8–80!) gives each audience member their own computer tablet to control part of a base station on Mars. When survival is threatened, everyone has to work together to avoid disaster.
Do you have what it takes to save the day?
Zinefest
22 October, 10am–3pm, Cargo Shed (free)
Fun for all ages, come along and meet the makers (who are both kids and adults) of small, short-run, self-published, (maga)zines that cover all manner of topics. This is a great chance to explore this grassroots artform via sales stalls, talks and workshops. If you’d like to be a stallholder, contact the Festival team, taurangafestival.co.nz
Stories About My Body
24 October, 6.30pm and 25 October, 8pm, Baycourt
26 October, 7pm, Waihī Beach Surf Club
My body has existed for 322,080 hours. It’s made of 78 organs, 206 bones and 32 teeth. It’s covered
in 8.8kg of skin and has spawned two whole human bodies.
Mean Mums actress Morgana O’Reilly brings her new one-woman show to the festival, a beautiful reminder to be more gentle and kinder to ourselves. Warning: this is one for the adults, there will
be nudity — and you will love it!
Biggie & Smalls All Style Dance Battle
24 October workshop, 6.30pm (free)
25 October, 6.30pm (free)
Cargo Shed
Calling all street dance lovers! Biggie & Smalls is an epic show of street dance fun for the whole whānau. Join in the free workshop — and then show off your skills at the family-friendly street
dance battle the following night. Audience members will judge the battle rounds to determine
who is crowned the Biggie & Smalls Champions of the 2023 Tauranga Arts Festival!
Wilson Dixon: Put the Gun Down, Jethro!
26 October, 8.30pm, Baycourt
Wilson Dixon may like to think of himself as the greatest country singer Cripple Creek has ever produced but, well, he’s the only country singer Cripple Creek has ever produced. Life of late
has been ‘fun’ for Wilson, navigating his way through the pandemic-denying QAnon-believing,
alt-right-leaning members of his own family. An adult show with brand new songs and brand
new stories about his, unfortunately, not brand new family.
Moon
28 & 29 October, 11am and 2pm, Cargo Shed
Created by two dads who wanted to make a show for their children, Moon sees a clown dressed
as Napoleon landing on the moon with bubbles going everywhere. What on earth is going to
happen next? For everyone who enjoys comedy, live music, bubbles and the moon. Especially
good for preschoolers.
Waiata Mai
28 October, from 4pm, The Edgewater Fan on the waterfront (free)
The final weekend of the festival celebrates the sounds of Tauranga Moana with this gathering
of outstanding local musicians and performers, curated and led by Jason Te Mete. Come along,
raise your voice to the skies and help us say mā te wā to the festival.
Wunderboxes
Daily from 19 October, 10am–4pm, Tauranga (free)
The Wunderboxes — five enchanting, interactive art installations for the entire family — share Tauranga Moana’s special stories, and foster a connection with the seasons and the rhythmic
dance of maramataka (the Māori lunar calendar). Hidden throughout central Tauranga, this fun
trail begins at Tauranga Art Gallery’s new Pop-Up Gallery at 42–44 Devonport Rd. Grab a map
and take a journey of discovery.
Tai Timu Tai Pari
Daily 19–23 October, 10am–4pm, Cargo Shed (free)
This group exhibition by artists and designers from Toi Ohomai Te Pūkenga uses the tide as
a metaphor for how we rise together and reside together and, fittingly, is shown beside the
incoming and outgoing tides of Te Awanui. Invigorating this exhibition even further are a series
of pop-up performances, including fashion shows, music and visual art workshops.
