Shows
Stage spooktacular
Got skeletons in your attic? Join The Circus Hub for the spectacular, spine-tingling showcase RAW: Out of the Attic! on Saturday the 17th of October.
Play and slay
Your favourite horror cult classics get a fab makeover in Myrtle’s Red Room, where local drag icons pay homage to spooky TV characters at Ivy Bar on the 16th of October.
Impossible to ignore
Maven Theatre Company is bringing Lee Hall’s adaptation of Mother Courage and Her Children, Bertolt Brecht’s iconic anti-war play, to Te Raukura ki Kāpiti from the 2nd to the 10th of October.
Hold on to your huts!
The stage is set for laughter, tension, and unexpected revelations in Stagecraft Theatre’s production of Roger Hall’s Social Climbers, tramping into Gryphon Theatre on the 23rd of September and camping there till the 3rd of October.
The aching unfulfilled
Chekov’s Uncle Vanya, directed by Andrew Foster and now set in a rural New Zealand vineyard, runs at Circa Theatre from the 12th of September to the 10th of October. We talk to Tawhi Thomas, who plays the title role.
Day-to-day deep dive
Wellington: it’s time to take a good, hard look at Chris Parker! The stage and screen comedy star will kick off the New Zealand leg of his new tour at St James Theatre on Friday the 4th of September.
The hunt is on
Prowl down to BATS from the 18th to the 19th of September and catch The Hunt for the Canterbury Panther, a heartfelt, cringey, and super silly show for tweens this TAHI New Zealand Festival of Solo Performance.
A bug’s life
Through 10 whimsical original songs, Lia Kelly and Phoebe Caldeiro delve into the bug life to tell stories of queer and racial identity in Bug Songs Not Love Songs, on at BATS Theatre from the 24th to the 29th of August.
Music
Rich and resonant
Aotearoa contemporary soul artist Louis Baker has just released his second studio album Trouble and will “lay it all out on the stage” at Meow Nui on the 31st of October.
Disco-boogie dance
Pōneke gets the first peek when Flamingo Pier kick off their euphoric full-band tour at Meow Nui on October the 9th: the day their new album Woven Together comes out.
Never fading away
Joined by his long-time band and some very special guests, Che Fu will celebrate 25 years of his seminal album Navigator at Michael Fowler Centre on the 11th of October. Come in ready to party for the career and genre-spanning concert.
The icing on the cake
Greg Johnson turned 60 this year and has a new album to show for it! With Some Night Somewhere in tow, the New Zealand-born, LA-based musician brings the career-spanning Greg Johnson – 60 tour to Old St Paul’s on the 30th of October.
Hydration station
Wet Denim’s new EP Water For Dogs pushes the Pōneke band’s sound in a refreshed rock direction whilst retaining the pulsating energy that defines their live shows. Come sate your thirst at San Fran on the 26th of September.
The lighthouse shines through
Wellington Norwegian songwriter Hanne Jøstensen will deliver her sophomore EP Lighthouse on Sunday the 13th of September at St Hilda’s Island Bay Anglican Church for the first ever musical event on the South Coast Arts Trail.
Into the wormhole
The soundtrack of the award-winning planetarium film XYZZY is being released on vinyl with a special event at Space Place on the 15th of August. We catch up with director and co-creator Simon Ward.
Fuel your dance
Celebrating wāhine DJs of Pōneke, Girls Torque offers electronic, bass, house, and techno all night long at Valhalla on the 15th of August.
Movies
Fresh flock of horrors
After 20 years, the highly anticipated sequel to Kiwi horror-comedy cult classic Black Sheep is headed for the big screen. We catch up with Jonathan King, director of Black Sheeps, ahead of its release.
Raw, truthful, uncensored
On in Wellington between the 15th and the 26th of July, Doc Edge returns this year with 75 films showcasing powerful documentary stories from across the globe.
Vive le cinéma!
The L’Oréal Groupe French Film Festival Aotearoa returns to Wellington from the 3rd to the 28th of June, giving audiences a taste of the best that French film has to offer.
Wonderful wāhine
The Paekākāriki Film Festival, curated by Andrew Armitage of Aro Video to the theme of Wonderful Wāhine, will be on across three Sundays in June at St Peter’s Village Hall.
Wellington Silver Screeners: Chelsie Preston Crayford
We chat with filmmaker Chelsie Preston Crayford ahead of the May release of Caterpillar, a multi-protagonist story that follows three generations of women all living under one roof.
Architects of imagination
The Resene Architecture & Design Film Festival, on between the 14th of May and the 1st of June, showcases the latest and most captivating films of the genre, providing insights into the brilliant minds and movements that shaped the world.
Thriving independent film
Snap Shot Shorts is back for season two, premiering six short films created by over 200 Pōneke creatives at the Embassy Theatre on the 11th of April.
Hot cannibal summer
A chat with director Callum Devlin about his debut film Weed Eaters ahead of its release in cinema. Four holidaying friends come across a strain of weed that gives them the most extreme case of the munchies ever recorded.
Art
Quasi
For five years Ronnie van Hout’s partial self-portrait Quasi looked out over Te Ngākau Civic Square from his perch atop City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi. Now overseas, the face-hand hybrid remains etched in the city’s memory.
Pobblebonk
Primordial worlds organise themselves out of chaos in Kushana Bush’s exhibition Pobblebonk, on at the Dowse Art Museum until the 28th of March 2027.
Ākau Tangi
12 bird-like windsocks migrate from land to sea and turn wind into movement and sound in multi-hyphenate artist Phil Dadson ONZM’s sculpture Ākau Tangi.
The third entity
Artists Sam Walker and Chloe Summerhayes complete one another’s unfinished paintings to produce a series of uncanny works at their exhibition Hotel California, on at Nine Fathom Deep until the 22nd of October.
Small universes
Adorn Yourself Accordingly is on at Enjoy Contemporary Art Space until the 24th of October. Using natural and synthetic materials, ancestral and modern processes, three artists explore the possibilities of contemporary adornment.
Green Islands
Isabella Smith talks to Regan Gentry about his sculpture Green Islands, comprising four native trees and plants – toetoe, pōhutukawa, harakeke, and tī kōuka – made out of Number 8 fencing wire, stainless steel staples, and galvanised pipes and plates.
Flip the gaze
The Sāmoan word aitu can be translated to mean ‘ancestor’, ‘spirit’, and ‘observer’, while mata means ‘eyes’. Lindah Lepou™’s exhibition Mata’AITU (voyeur) is on at Pātaka Art + Museum until the 8th of November and asks, have we evolved or devolved?
Excitable Alphabet
Poet Jenny Bornholdt and artist and sculptor Anton Hart share their latest exhibition Excitable Alphabet at Bowen Galleries until the 19th of September. Jenny’s words transform as Anton translates them into 3D totem-like sculptures and grooved discs.
Events
The last train to Spooksville
This Wellington Heritage Festival, Mainline Steam is running a special series of steam shuttles between Wellington and Plimmerton on the 31st of October, the spookiest day of the year.
Nostalgia expo
The Retro Event, one of New Zealand’s biggest celebrations of retro gaming and pop culture, comes to Wellington for the first time. Autobots, transform and roll out to the Wellington Indian Association in Kilbirnie on the 12th of September.
DIY fabulousness
Think you could bring a dazzling, diamond-dappled burlesque performance to the stage for under $100? Watch competitors from across the motu give it their all in The Great DIY BurlesKiwi at The Fringe Bar on the 6th of June.
Haere mai
Seven years after closing its doors, Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Wellington Central Library welcomes Wellingtonians to discover, learn, and connect in the new space from the 14th of March.
Love Actually
This Christmas season, fill your cup at Love Actually in Concert, where you can catch the timeless classic on the big screen at Michael Fowler Centre accompanied by a live orchestra on the 20th of December.
Star-studded skirmish
Following three heats of jaw-dropping outfits and show-stopping spectacles, the Rising Star finale at Ivy Bar & Cabaret on the 29th of November guarantees fierce competition for the crown.
Do you like piña coladas?
Make genuine face-to-face connections at Sapphic Speed Dating Dinner Party and enjoy a four-course meal while Pōneke performer Ginger Velour jumps on the mic.
All things bird
Come one, come all to Explore Omnibirding with Giselle Clarkson, where the author and illustrator will guide readers through the inner workings of her new book and the wonders of the avian world at Tawa Library on the 3rd of October.
Personalities
Pushing the boundaries
We chat with contemporary composer Claire Cowan about being selected for the Vancouver International Film Festival’s Composer Filmmaker Accelerator programme, becoming the first artist to record at NZSO’s Te Ngākau Recording Studios, and more.
Familial faultlines
Author and photographer Gayna Vetter discusses the blend of photography, family histories, history, and fiction that brought to life her just-launched debut novel Residual Images.
An Evening with Che Fu & The Kratez
Che Fu wants audiences to come in ready to party when he plays Michael Fowler Centre on the 11th of October with his band The Kratez and some very special guests. We got the opportunity to talk to the New Zealand music legend ahead of the concert.
Going viral
Dr Stephanie Waller discusses her work after receiving the Zonta Science Award for her contributions to the study of viruses in Aotearoa wildlife and commitment to advancing women in science.
The craft of a comedian
We sit down with Chris Parker to Take a Good Hard Look at his epic comedy career and latest show, which kicks off his Aotearoa tour at St James Theatre on the 4th of September.
Through the window
We caught up with Isabel Corfiatis – filmographer, director, editor, and many things in between – to discuss the film Music and the Mystical Experience ahead of its screening on the 18th of July at Roxy Cinema as part of the Doc Edge Festival.
Rock band redemption
Nick Sceats’ novel Paper Husbands tells a story of rock band redemption. We caught up to chat about the book, the process of writing it, and the album that accompanies the text.
The thespian of song
We were lucky enough to talk to global icon Engelbert Humperdinck, aka the king of romance, before he brings The Celebration Tour to Michael Fowler Centre on the 26th of June.