Nau mai, haere mai and welcome to Tāmaki Makaurau.
Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival is honoured to welcome artists, producers, programmers, presenters and festival directors from across the motu and the world to our Festival.
Our industry friends are able to purchase tickets for $35* to the shows below.
Tēnei te mihi atu ki a koutou katoa,
Nā mātou, nā
Bernie, Ataahua, Robbie and the Festival whānau
*ticket limits may apply, excludes any booking fees, SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY
La Ronde
5-22 MARCH, SPIEGELTENT, AOTEA SQUARE
Five-time Festival favourites Strut & Fret return with their most dazzling spectacle yet.
La Ronde radiates pure theatrical seduction, a heady mix of gravity-defying aerial work, jaw-dropping pole acts and choreography dripping with sass. Backed by powerhouse vocals and a soundtrack that fizzes like champagne, it’s an intoxicating collision of circus, cabaret, comedy and exhilaration — or as one critic called it, “a glitter-soaked invitation to lose yourself in sequins, sass, and sound.”
Music Portrait of a Humble Disabled Samoan
5-8 MARCH, RANGATIRA, Q THEATRE
An extraordinary story told with unapologetic presence, humour and raw honesty.
Raised in Wainuiomata, Fonotī Pati Umaga was given two options from his father about his future. Either become a church minister or a lawyer. Determined to follow his own path, however, he followed his heart and chose music. In 2005, everything changed when a fall left him a tetraplegic. Years of hardship followed before finding renewed purpose and healing in places he never expected. Backed by a powerhouse Pacific creative team, Music Portrait of a Humble Disabled Samoan weaves live music, storytelling and visual design into a genre-defying celebration of resilience, hope and the fire music can carry.
Click on the book now link, choose a full priced adult ticket and use the code AAF26IND at check out.
ONO with Moana & the Tribe
8 MARCH, GREAT HALL, AUCKLAND TOWN HALL
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Moana & the Tribe present ONO, their latest album that begins in Aotearoa and travels the world.
Six Indigenous women are featured in a hybrid of live performance and video showcase infused with sublime vocals, kapa haka and dance prowess, and funky electronic-dub beats.
Lyrics in te reo Māori pay homage to the power of people, relationships and language. With visiting musicians Shellie Morris from Australia and Kaumakaiwa Kanaka’ole from Hawai’i, alongside breathtaking visuals from the highlands of Scotland, Arctic Circle and beyond, this is a music experience that reinforces the values of hope and unity.
Werewolf
5-8 MARCH, LOFT, Q THEATRE
Three ill-equipped wardens keep watch over a makeshift community (that’s you, the audience) who must learn to work together. When night falls — who do you trust?
But as the threat outside takes shape, the atmosphere inside begins to turn. Inspired by the classic game of deception, Werewolf is a riveting horror-comedy experience from the savvy minds at Binge Culture, whose acclaimed interactive theatre works are a joy to play along with.
Click on the book now link, choose a full priced adult ticket and use the code AAF26IND at check out.
Julia Bullock with Auckland Philharmonia
7 MARCH, GREAT HALL, AUCKLAND TOWN HALL
"One of the singular artists of her generation." — The New York Times
Grammy Award-winning American soprano Julia Bullock makes her only Aotearoa appearance with an exclusive evening of magnetic presence and technical precision, led by visionary conductor Christian Reif. Acclaimed for her “intense, authentic feeling, as if she were singing right from her soul” (Opera News), Bullock is a phenomenal artist whose performances resonate with emotional honesty and artistic power.
A Place in the Sultan's Kitchen
12-15 MARCH, RANGATIRA, Q THEATRE
Woven from the threads of a sweeping family epic, A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen is a charming, funny and moving fusion of theatre and good food.
Creator Josh Hinton fills the room with music, stories and exotic smells as he attempts to make his grandmother’s chicken curry, live on stage (and you get to eat it). Through childhood memories and family folklore he transports us from the backstreets of Sri Lanka to a bustling India, from a schoolyard in Iran to a South African farm, to his home in Wollongong.
Click on the book now link, choose a full priced adult ticket and use the code AAF26IND at check out.
The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave
12-14 MARCH, RANGATIRA, Q THEATRE
A trio of hardcore party people. A three-day rave jammed into 60 chaotic minutes. One electrifying non-stop dance performance.
Fresh off mesmerising Australian audiences and completing an astonishing 23-show season in Edinburgh, this award-laden crowd favourite returns home for a triumphant encore.
Click on the book now link, choose a full priced adult ticket and use the code AAF26IND at check out.
Duck Pond
12-15 MARCH, KIRI TE KANAWA THEATRE, AOTEA CENTRE
Swan Lake - gone wild!
Circa's Duck Pond takes Tchaikovsky’s beloved masterpiece and gives it a dazzling twist — circus style.
In this whimsically audacious reimagining of the world’s most iconic tale of transformation, the brilliant minds and bodies of contemporary circus company Circa have outdone themselves. Sumptuous aerials, jaw-dropping acrobatics and a flurry of feathers swirl through their inspired fusion of this timeless score and the fairytale The Ugly Duckling — all performed with astounding, controlled chaos.
27 Club
18-20 MARCH, SPIEGELTENT, AOTEA SQUARE
Icons reborn — this must-see show will have you praying to the rock gods for more!
At the age of 27, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix all became instant music immortals. Now with the help of Aussie rock royalty from The Superjesus, Jebediah, Mondo Psycho and Wanderers, these icons get to power on as part of the 27 Club.
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
19-20 MARCH, GREAT HALL, AUCKLAND TOWN HALL
In a historic collaboration of Eastern and Western traditions, China’s prestigious Shanghai Symphony Orchestra is bringing two premium classical concerts to the Festival in March.
Led by its renowned Music Director and Conductor Long Yu — hailed by The New York Times as “the most powerful figure in China’s classical music scene” — Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has been a major force behind China’s classical music prestige since 1879, and is the first international symphony orchestra to visit our city in more than 25 years.
Ten Thousand Hours
19-22 MARCH, THE CIVIC
How long does it take to master a skill?
For the world class circus crew Gravity & Other Myths, it’s tens of thousands of hours, and believe us it shows. Their latest global hit is part mind-blowing spectacle, part hilarious hangout with the most insanely talented mates you wish you had. They make the impossible look so easy, you’ll swear you could do it yourself (spoiler: you can’t).
The Visitors
19-22 MARCH, RANGATIRA, Q THEATRE
Visitors leave, right?
On a sweltering day in January 1788, seven clan leaders gather on a sandstone escarpment overlooking Sydney harbour. But beyond the friendly banter, protocols and hospitality, a momentous decision is waiting to be made. A mysterious fleet of nawi (giant boats) is amassing in the harbour and as it creeps closer, these representatives must choose unanimously: whether to send these strangers on their way or welcome them?
Click on the book now link, choose a full priced adult ticket and use the code AAF26IND at check out.
Ihi. Wehi. Mana.
20-21 MARCH, KIRI TE KANAWA THEATRE, AOTEA CENTRE
Past and present members of Te Waka Huia reunite with esteemed choral leader Karen Grylls, who has led the relationship with Te Waka Huia and the national choirs over the past decades. The 1996 performance of Kua Rongo with the National Youth Choir and Te Waka Huia in the Sydney Opera House was the beginning of that journey. Together with a bespoke invitational choir, this performance features waiata that combine te reo with vocal talent, in an uplifting celebration of musical collaboration and cultural connection.
BIG HORNS
21 MARCH, GREAT HALL, AUCKLAND TOWN HALL
A trailblazing modern-day brass band, this homegrown funk unit is also a veritable party machine, serving up reimagined dancefloor hits from Prince, Beyoncé, Dr. Dre, De La Soul, Kool & the Gang, Marvin Gaye, Earth, Wind & Fire, and more. You won’t be able to stop moving to these dirty grooves all night long — trumpeted loud and proud with zero backing tracks and 100% BIG energy.
He Manu Tīoriori
21 MARCH, SPIEGELTENT, AOTEA SQUARE
For the past seven years the Waiata Anthems project, initiated by Dame Hinewehi Mohi and developed through her work at APRA NZ, has been a platform for waiata reo Māori to flourish. Initially a project for translation of existing songs into te reo Māori, the focus is now on fresh and original compositions with artists supported by Māori language consultants to craft waiata that carry depth, metaphor and beauty.
Featuring the soulful sounds of Jordyn with a Why, the dulcet tones of MOHI and the silky smoothness of Muroki, He Manu Tīoriori will send the voices of the future to resonate throughout the city and the Festival, while the rhythms and language of tomorrow will get you out of your seat, on your feet and moving to the beat.
Waiora Te Ūkaipō - The Homeland
6 - 22 MARCH, ASB WATERFRONT THEATRE
Industry Tickets from $30
Set in the summer of 1965, Waiora follows Hone, who brings his whānau from the East Cape to the South Island in search of a better life.
As they gather for a beachside birthday hāngī with their Pākehā guests, buried secrets and cultural tensions rise to the surface. Far away from home, can they find a place to stand together or will they be set adrift in an ocean of change?
Macbeth
4 - 7 MARCH, KIRI TE KANAWA THEATRE
Industry Tickets 15% OFF A/B/C RESERVE PRICING FOR SPECIFIC SHOWS
The Royal New Zealand Ballet
Choreographer Alice Topp brings naked ambition, politics and transgression to the fore in an explosion of contemporary ballet with this new, original staging — propelling Shakespeare’s iconic characters into a shadowy world of manipulation, boardroom intrigue and violence.
To book tickets click on the link below and enter the code INDAAF2026.
Bluebeard's Castle
13 - 14 MARCH, Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall
Industry Tickets 10%
New Zealand Opera with Auckland Philharmonia
We meet an elderly couple in their suburban home; the place in which they’ve built a life together, and which holds all the memories they’ve shared. But for Judith, home now feels less than familiar. Living with dementia, she seeks to find what’s buried in the trunk of an ever-dimming memory — with her husband and carer acting as her guide, they trace back the steps of their past together.
New Zealand Opera are thrilled to offer their arts industry colleagues a special 10% discount on tickets to Bluebeard’s Castle at the Festival.
To access the discount, simply contact the NZ Opera Box Office directly by calling 09 379 4068 or emailing boxoffice@nzopera.co.nz and ask that the Auckland Arts Festival industry price be applied.