Creative Learning at the Festival

Each year we present a wide range of educational events within the Festival lineup in March, aimed at schools, teachers and adult learners.

Our full educational programme will be announced in November. If you have any questions before then, please:

Learning and creativity for the wellbeing of the arts.

Our educational lineup of shows for schools and students aims to reach tamariki and adult learners throughout the motu, making the arts accessible and fostering a desire to learn, appreciate and participate.

Both special matinees and public performances are made available exclusively to schools and teachers in Tāmaki Makaurau, many with FREE ticketing allocations, and can be booked directly through us. 

We also work with artists and artistic companies to organise pre/post-show talks, dress rehearsal and outreach/workshop opportunities, and education packs for curriculum.

For an example of the types of shows, age suitability and curriculum alignment we offered to educators in March 2026:

We believe everyone should have access to life-changing experiences in the arts — especially our rangatahi.

In August 2025 we launched a campaign to boost our FREE TICKETS initiative for schools and community groups for another year, with individual donations of $20 going towards tickets for young people to experience the Festival in our city’s iconic venues.

In March 2026, this fundraising contributed to 8,259 attendances through our education programming, with 1,900+ tickets provided for FREE.

Putting rangatahi in front of incredible local and international artists, who might just change the way they think and feel about their place in the world, is part of the transformative power of Creative Learning and why we do what we do for arts and culture in Tāmaki Makaurau.

You can continue to uplift this initiative and impact education at the next Festival through our donation portal, or support other Festival initiatives, including Accessibility and the Creation of New Work:

Main image: students leaving a schools performance at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Square, 2025. Image by Jinki Cambronero.