Kāore i ārikarika ngā mihi ki a koutou i tautoko ai i a Kōanga Festival 2024. We are full of gratitude for everyone that came and celebrated Kōanga Festival 2024 with us, our 10 year anniversary and the biggest festival we have run to date.
2025 dates and hōtaka coming soon.
Te piko o te whakaaro
Te tupu o te whakaari
Tākiritia!
Te Tuangahurutanga o Te Ahurei Whakaari o Kōanga
10 years of celebrating new Māori storytelling at the time of Kōanga
2024 Hōtaka | Programme
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NGĀ TOHU O TE TAIAO
Join us in opening Kōanga Festival 2024 with mahi toi, kōrero, and kai.
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WHĀNAU DAY
A free day for whānau and tamariki to enjoy storytelling, kapa haka, performances, kēmu, and kai.
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NEKE
A powerful and heart-lifting physical theatre show written and directed by Scotty Cotter.
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MĀORI KRISHNA + ALTARNATIVE
Two solo shows about alternative upbringings by Hone Taukiri and Acacia O’Connor.
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TE ARERO TOI
Wānanga for Māori writers who are interested in writing whakaari i te reo Māori.
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TŌIRI
An enchanting concert celebrating the beauty of te reo Māori. Hosted by Kawiti Waetford and presented in partnership with NZ Opera.
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INDIGENOUS EXCHANGE PLAYREADING
Award-winning play THE VISITORS by Jane Harrison will be read by Māori performing artists following an Our Stories, Your People international Indigenous exchange with Moogahlin Productions.
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NGĀ RORIRORI
A comical dance theatre work about one whānau’s relationship with their whenua, as their ancestral claims are put under the microscope. Written and directed by Hone Kouka.
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PLAYREADINGS | PŌMERE
Readings of new plays by Tawhi Thomas and Tūī Matelau.
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PLAYREADINGS | PŌHOROI
Readings of new plays by Turene Jones and Rainton Oneroa.
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BE LIKE BILLY?
Award-winning entertainer Rutene Spooner celebrates showband legacy, idolises the greatest Māori showman, and tussles with the future of Māori in entertainment.
Our 10th Annual Kōanga Festival at Te Pou Theatre
Kōanga is a time when te taiao comes to life with new growth. Kōanga Festival cultivates new ideas and shares the bounty of new narratives through Māori performing arts.
Bold new contemporary Māori performing arts premiere at Te Pou Theatre; the community comes together at Whānau Day to hear stories from around the world; and Māori storytellers thrive as new plays are developed and shared for the very first time.
Our 10th annual Kōanga Festival is set to be our biggest yet, spanning three and a half weeks with 11+ events – it is our most extensive national programme of whakaari Māori.
We are excited to present an all new look and feel for Kōanga Festival 2024.
Our festival team has been collaborating with the very talented Tyrone Ohia & team at Extended Whānau to wānanga all things Kōanga and together create this fresh new āhua.
For our new look, Tyrone and the team at Extended Whānau wanted to whakamana our ingoa through waituhi, giving strong visual symbolism to the name Kōanga.
In this, our 10th festival, we’ve gone bold with the kōwhai; embracing our festival whakapapa, the kōwhai flower, happiness, sunshine, warmth, creativity, energy, and fun – everything we want to celebrate this milestone.
