Three people stand closely together in the dark, illuminated dramatically from below by a soft light. Their faces are serious, and the background is completely black, creating a mysterious and intense mood.
Werewolf (Image: Mouce Young)

PartnersNovember 10, 2025

BIG HORNS, Werewolf and more: Our picks from the Auckland Arts Fest programme

Staff writers
Three people stand closely together in the dark, illuminated dramatically from below by a soft light. Their faces are serious, and the background is completely black, creating a mysterious and intense mood.
Werewolf (Image: Mouce Young)

Five acts we can’t wait to see at Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival 2026.

Art history is getting phased out, AI is getting phased in, and funding is getting harder and harder to come by – it’s not an easy time for the arts. Even so, our local artists and their communities persist. So too does Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival. Now in its 10th annual year, AAF is a creative, connecting force to be reckoned with. This year’s festival featured over 700 artists from around the world. The festival is one of the oldest in the Australasian region with origins that date back to 1948.

The AAF programme for 2026 has just been announced. It will bring incredible artists from Aotearoa and elsewhere to Auckland across 18 days and nights next March. There will be shows inside the city’s iconic venues, free streetside performances, roaming events, concerts, kōrero and more. The programme is huge, but these are the local acts we’re most looking forward to seeing. 

Music Portrait of a Humble Disabled Samoan​

The Pacific arts community is small enough that you can form some strong expectations of a work just from looking at the creative team. Music Portrait of a Humble Disabled Samoan includes Oscar Kightley, Nathaniel Lees, Neil Ieremia and Sasha Gibb. In other words, for a “genre-defying” performance of live music, storytelling and visual design, you know you’ll be in safe hands. 

Of particular interest to me is the combination of theatre icon Lees with the (presumably) choreography of pioneer Ieremia of Black Grace. 

MPOAHDS follows Fonotī Pati Umaga, a Wainuiomata-raised musician who manages to break into the industry before a fall in the shower changes everything. The show tells Umaga’s real-life story of ambition, resilience and identity. Showing at the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, and having its world premiere as part of Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival is sure to be huge. / Mad Chapman

Five people pose against a brown background, dressed in formal and traditional attire. One man sits in a wheelchair, another on a stool, while the others stand, including a woman in a red patterned dress.
Music Portrait of a Humble Disabled Samoan​ (Image: Lou Hatton)

Werewolf 

I love Binge Culture. Their shows are always playful with a deep intelligence lurking underneath. Werewolf reminds me of scary-fun childhood games like Spotlight and Blink Murder; and if the world needs anything right now it’s more playtime for adults. Is there a creature more evocative than the werewolf? The human transformed into a raging monster by the fullness of the moon? This show has all the ingredients to evoke hysterical stress-laughter which is my favourite kind. I’ll be there with my ears pricked and my canines sharpened. / Claire Mabey

Three people stand closely together in the dark, illuminated dramatically from below by a soft light. Their faces are serious, and the background is completely black, creating a mysterious and intense mood.
Werewolf (Image: Mouce Young)

BIG HORNS

The festival’s final event is described as an “Auckland Town Hall mega-concert for the ages”. It’s BIG HORNS. That band name alone is nearly enough to sell me. From what it promises, to its all-caps glory. Having never seen this homegrown funk group before, I feel like I love them already. BIG HORNS is a big brass band. Their Powerstation gigs have reportedly been epic, and featured dance floor hits from Beyoncé, Dr. Dre, De La Soul, Kool & the Gang, Marvin Gaye and so on. BIG HORNS play with zero backing tracks and a lot of huge, shiny instruments and special on-stage guests too. This sounds so fun and funky, like the kind of groovy gig you leave buzzing with energy. / Liv Sisson

A musician in a hat holds a saxophone under one arm and raises his other hand making a peace sign, standing against a dark background with dramatic lighting.
BIG HORNS (Image: Supplied)

Ihi. Wehi. Mana. 

I’d love to attend Ihi. Wehi. Mana. to see, but more importantly to hear the masters at work. This event is advertised as a celebration of “musical collaboration”, with the legendary work of the Wehi whānau crossing between kapa haka, the choral world and the musical world more generally. As anyone who has worked with Karen Grylls across her prodigious career knows, she is a force of nature. As anyone who has seen Te Waka Huia perform over their 45 year history is aware, they are a force of nature. This event then will be like when a tornado passes over a bonfire, or when lightning strikes a waterfall, or simply when the sun comes out from behind the clouds. / Ben Fagan

A group of Māori performers in traditional dress and face paint pose energetically on stage, while an older woman in glasses and dark clothing gestures with her hand against a black background.
Ihi. Wehi. Mana. (Images: Supplied)

He Manu Tīoriori

It’s 2021 and I am wandering around Rhythm and Alps. International headliner DJ Dimension has Covid and is now a public enemy. Festivalgoers (including me) are sad. But there’s still plenty of DnB on the breeze and the clouds are pinking up as the scorching Otago sun slips below the Cardrona peaks. Suddenly, my ears detect something different: silky smooth vocals amid the doof doof. Following the hypnotic yet effortless sound, I stumble upon Muroki’s set. It ended up being one of my all time faves – wavy, groovy, perfect for golden-hour. Plus, a nice reminder that amazing artists are right here.

Muroki’s breezy indie pop blends reggae and funk. He has called his work a “soul burrito” and to be honest that totally captures it. So for AAF 2026 I am heading straight for He Manu Tīoriori for Muroki as well as Jordyn with a Why and MOHI. These voices gathered together will surely be magical. And they’ll be performing in the Spiegeltent, a temporary stage/structure erected in Aotea Square just for the festival. There’s something kind of whimsical, in my opinion, about a venue that only exists for a specific moment in time. And this opportunity to listen to three of our best, most creative voices together will be similarly singular. They have all been part of the Waiata Anthems project, which aims to help waiata reo Māori flourish. The project supports artists to craft waiata that carry depth, metaphor and beauty. I’d love to hear those waiata in real-time. / Liv Sisson

A collage of three people: on the left, a person in a yellow jacket and white cap sits outdoors; on the top right, a person with dark hair in a purple jacket; on the bottom right, a person in a maroon jacket and cap on a red track.
He Manu Tīoriori (Images: Supplied)