‘Find your Wild’ theme for Cuba Dupa

Friday, 8 December 2023

“Find your Wild’ is the theme of Cuba Dupa 2024, which will be held on March 23-24.

A first taste of the line-up at Wellington’s famous street festival, Cuba Dupa, has been announced for next year.

The festival will return to the capital’s streets in March after drawing a crowd of 120,000 this year on the back of a cancellation in 2022 due to Covid-19.

From solo to mass groups, domestic and international music artists will cover genres including experimental hip hop, Māori neo-soul, Pasifika metal, electronic, folk and rock.

After a cancelled festival in 2022, this year’s festival drew a crowd of 120,000 people to Wellington’s streets.

Among them is indigenous artist Jordyn with a Why, a finalist in this year’s Pacific Music Awards’ Best Pacific Female Artist. Her music muses on language reclamation, identity and cultural heritage through an R&B lens.

Descending from Whāingaroa (Raglan), and the Samoan villages of Mulifanua Lalovi, Falelatai and Vaimoso, her stories have woven and shaped her music.

Jordyn with a Why, a finalist in this year’s Pacific Music Awards’ Best Pacific Female Artist category, will be performing at Cuba Dupa 2024.

Other artists include the 20-piece Other Futures Big Band, experimental hip-hop artist Who Shot Scott, a collaboration of Pollyhill and Samara Alofa with their debut duo piece Aquaries and five-piece Polynesian metal band Shepherds Reign.

Festival director Drew James said there was a big focus on the audience joining the creative ride of the festival with opportunities to take part, perform, dress up and “find your wild” – the theme for the festival.

For 2024 the audience will be encouraged to participate in performance and dance, says festival director Drew James.

“The audience will be encouraged to join dance parades down the streets,” James said.

It was working with BodyFX to host BodyPalooza, a national body painting competition that would include a parade and final showdown on the main stage, as well as creating its first Uke-a-Dupa, featuring more than 20 ukulele groups throughout the festival to culminate in a mass performance.

Among international artists in the Cuba Dupa 2024 line-up are Franck Vigroux and Antoine Schmitt, with an audiovisual project inspired by the concept of waterfalls.

In addition to the homegrown talent, CubaDupa will also feature international music and street theatre artists from France, the United Kingdom, Korea and Australia.

The programme includes French artists Franck Vigroux and Antoine Schmitt with support from the Embassy of France to present their immersive work ‘Cascades’.

The audiovisual project features electronic music by Vigroux and generative video by Schmitt, inspired by the concept of waterfalls.

The official line-up will be released in late January ahead of the March 23 and 24 festival.