Nelson Arts Festival

28/05/2026

Dame Jools Topp, you will be deeply missed. Thank you for the laughter, the music, and the immense contribution you made to Aotearoa’s arts and entertainment community.

Alongside Lynda, Jools brought unmistakable humour, music, warmth and joy to audiences across Aotearoa for decades, including many memorable performances in Whakatū, most recently in 2019.

Jools was a true taonga of Aotearoa arts and culture, and her legacy will be felt for generations.

Our aroha goes to Lynda, her whānau, friends, and all who loved her.

27/05/2026

A heads up for our Whakatū community.

Our friends at Hikitia! are inviting people across Te Tauihu to be part of Ordinary Wonders, a community arts project celebrating the small memories that shape connection, care and belonging.

Share a few sentences from your own life, or register as a local artist to help bring these stories into artwork.

The finished works will be exhibited at the new Nelson Arts Hub in August 2026.

19/05/2026

Clay lovers, this one’s for you.

The Nelson Clay Week 2026 programme is now live, with more than 90 workshops, exhibitions, talks, demonstrations and special events coming to Whakatū this October.

This year’s programme includes international and Aotearoa artists, the return of Potters Square, the legendary Potters Market on Trafalgar Street, exhibition floortalks across the CBD, and over 25 special exhibitions across the city.
It’s another brilliant reminder of the creativity, craft and community that makes Whakatū such a special place for the arts.

Tickets are available now via Nelson Clay Week.

See you out there, Whakatū.

15/05/2026

Looking for something fun to do this June? Winter is the perfect time to slow down, get cosy and make something with your hands.

Rekindle are bringing their Whakatū workshops to Nelson on 6–7 June, with a beautiful range of hands-on craft experiences including rag rug making, patchwork, soap making, brush making, felting, spinning, darning and natural body products. Whether you’re keen to learn a new skill or just spend a warm afternoon creating, there’s something for everyone.

You can check out the full workshop programme in the link:
https://www.rekindle.org.nz/collections/whakatu-nelson-workshops

14/05/2026

Huge congratulations to the 2026 APRA AMCOS NZ Best Country Music Song finalists! 🎶

We’re especially chuffed to see some familiar Festival favourites in the mix, with TOM LARK joining us in 2025 and Tami Neilson lighting up our 2024 programme.

And with Marlon Williams soon to make his way to Whakatū, this announcement feels like one to celebrate.

A big shout out to all four finalists, recognising the depth, craft and storytelling of country music across Aotearoa.

The award will be presented at the Country Music Honours in Gore on Friday 22 May.

See the full finalist announcement from APRA AMCOS Aotearoa below 👇

📣 ANNOUNCING: APRA BEST COUNTRY MUSIC SONG FINALISTS 📣

Celebrating the very best in country music, APRA AMCOS Aotearoa are thrilled to announce the 2026 APRA Best Country Music Song award finalists:

- 'Dive Bar', written by Aaron Pulemagafa, Jeremiah Jayden Fale, Edward Liu, Christian Tjandrawinata, performed by TheWesternGuide

- 'Moonlight Hotel', written by Shannon Fowler, performed by TOM LARK

- 'Neon Cowgirl', written by Tami Neilson and Joshua Neilson, performed by Tami Neilson feat. Neil Finn

- 'Whakameatia Mai', written by Marlon Williams and Kommi Tamati-Elliffe, performed by Marlon Williams

The APRA Best Country Music Song Award will be presented at the Country Music Honours in Gore on Friday 22 May. You can purchase tickets to the event, and many more in the Tussock Country - NZ's Country Music Festival, via the link in comments.

13/05/2026

Huge congratulations to the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards winners, who were announced last night:

📕Ingrid Horrocks, for winning the $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction for her short story collection All Our Lives.

📘Tina Makereti, who won the $12,000 General Nonfiction prize for her essay collection, The Compulsion in Us.

📗Elizabeth Cox for winning the Illustrated Nonfiction prize for Mr Ward’s Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street.

📙Nafanua Purcell Kersel for winning the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry for Black Sugarcane.

Three of the four winners were published by Te Herenga Waka University Press, led by Fergus Barrowman, a longtime supporter of the Nelson Arts Festival.

A big shout also to the winners of the Best First Book Awards for each category (including our former PM) and to all the finalists, which included two authors who appeared in last year’s Pukapuka Talks programme: Nelson journalist and author Naomi Arnold (for Northbound) and Catherine Chidgey (for The Book of Guilt).

12/05/2026

One night only: Toiere is coming to Whakatū.

After wowing audiences at Auckland Arts Festival, this acclaimed concert lands at Nelson Centre of Musical Arts with a powerful blend of opera, te reo Māori and beloved waiata Māori. Presented by New Zealand Opera, Toiere reimagines iconic operatic works through a distinctly Aotearoa lens , rich with story, soul and soaring vocals.

Featuring an all-star line-up including Katherine Winitana, Ipu Laga'aia, Elisha Fa'i-Solo, Joel Amosa and Kawiti Waetford, with music shaped by composer/arranger Robert Wiremu.

📍 Nelson Centre of Musical Arts

📅 Saturday 27 June

🕢 7.30pm

Book your tickets: https://ncma.nz/event/toiere-presented-by-nz-opera/

05/05/2026

He Ngaki Māra opens this Thursday at Project 100

Are you free this Thursday evening? Some of the Nelson Arts Festival team will be heading along to celebrate the opening of He Ngaki Māra, a new exhibition by Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington-based artist -Mei Zagrobelna - Jewellery, who appeared in the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival.

Through contemporary jewellery and adornment, Keri-Mei explores mahi toi as a form of rongoā, reflecting on whenua, whakapapa, wellbeing, and what it means to tend to ourselves and each other.

Grounded in the rhythms of the Maramataka and Keri-Mei’s connection to Whakatū, this is a beautiful kaupapa to gather around.

Opening Night
Thursday 7 May
5pm–7pm

Project 100 Courtyard

See you there, Whakatū.

16/04/2026

We're counting down to opening night of INTENT - next Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 April at Royal Nelson . This new theatre show, written by former Nelson Arts Festival By Whakatū Residency recipient Donna McLeod, is the follow up to TENSE, which enjoyed a sold-out season at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival. The new show celebrates the resolution of the 186-year long Nelson Tenths agreement, which was settled in court on 17 December 2025.

INTENT explores the possibilities, the questions, the dreams: featuring Taonga Pūoruo, Waiata and Pūrākau, written by a grandmother to her moko. Tickets at link: Tickets available at https://www.theatreroyalnelson.co.nz/event/intent/

14/04/2026

Te Ramaroa - Nelson's premiere free light art festival - is fundraising with raffle tickets. Pick up a $25v ticket and go into the draw to win an incredible prize pack - and don't forget that these donations help support this beautiful Winter activation to happen!
Link to snap one up: https://www.teramaroa.nz/raffle