Wellington’s NZ Festival season hits full stride
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
The Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts - now in its 40th year - is in full swing in Wellington. The programme features free and ticketed events including music, theatre, dance, visual arts, literature and more.
Meet the artist
Tina Makereti (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore)
Which show are you a part of?
Chamber Music New Zealand presents Ā Mua, Tāwhiri Warehouse, March 6, 6pm
Your role in this show?
Storyteller!
What might surprise audiences about this performance?
I think the audience might be surprised to find themselves part of the story. Ā Mua creates a trail through time, and the listener is actively brought along for the hīkoi. Best to just sit back and soak it all in with no expectations - I hope the audience will be awed, as I am, by how the music moves the story in unexpected ways.
Today
Khalid Abdalla (The Crown, Day of the Jackal, The Kite Runner) will take the audience on a surprising experience of revolution and bring you together to ask how we can find peace, community and space for collective hope.
Tāwhiri Warehouse, 4-5 Mar 7pm, 6-7 Mar 8.30pm. Pre-show dinner at Everybody Eats and artist talk 5 Mar; kōrero with Tainui Stephens, Māoriland Hub, 7 Mar 2pm.
This Weekend
Writers, in partnership with Verb Wellington
The weekend line-up includes 2025 Booker Prize longlisted author Natasha Brown (UK) in Aotearoa for the first time. Be among the first to hear Charlotte Grimshaw explore her daring new novel The Black Monk with Kiran Dass and don’t miss arts laureate Elizabeth Knox and Lili Wilkinson discuss demonic magic and teen protagonists in Dark Academics, Tāwhiri Warehouse, March 7-8, from 10am.
For more information on Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts and tickets: festival.nz