Soak up the festival vibes, enjoy some amazing kai and live music, and hang out with friends and whaanau at the Festival Hub.
Located in the Central Court of Hamilton Gardens, the Festival Hub Grassroots Trust Stage (Turtle Lake Stage) will showcase local talent with an eclectic line-up of entertainment every night from 5pm.
Check out the timetable below and stay tuned for exciting new additions!
While you’re there, treat yourself to a delicious selection of food and drinks, available for purchase thanks to Montana Food & Events. Food trucks across the first weekend include Kai On Wheels, Sawaadi Thai, Waffle It, Dosa, Fernando’s Tacos, and Kiwi Food.
Please note: HAFTOKK events are strictly no BYO alcohol.
| Fri 21 | Sat 22 | Sun 23 | Wed 26 | Thurs 27 | Friday 28 | Saturday Mar 1 | Sunday Mar 2 | |
| 5PM | Hamilton Boys High School Jazz Combo | Penni Feather | Dusk Till Dawn | Jaqi Taimana | Rai | The Monks | Effie | 5pm Hi-Vibe DJ set 5:30-5:45pm Safety Off |
| 6PM | Jaqi Taimana | Wilkie Mac | SoulTi | Reece Gielen | Steve Tofa | Celestial Festival | Naranjarte – The Bell (6-6:30) (Puppet performance) | 6-6:30 – Naranjarte – The Bell (puppet performance) |
| 7PM | Darz | DJ Tanewaka | Piper Blaster | Piper Blaster (Drag Show) | Mantra Band | Balfolk | Ngaronoa & Katana FT. Michael Moore | 6:40pm – Pseudo Psychosis 7:00pm Dark Night 7:20pm Moon 7:45pm Lehali |
| 8PM | Marky D & the 35’s | Coral | Kyla Greening | DJ Tanewaka | Smokey Trio | Smokey Dayz | Darz | 8:10pm Emerson Kole 8:30pm Hi-Vibe DJ set |
Music on Sunday 2 March presented thanks to To The Front Kirikiriroa. Born from Girls Rock Camp Aotearoa in 2017 this gender-inclusive music development programme encourages young women, trans, intersex, takatāpui and gender diverse youth to embrace their creativity in a safe space.
Roving Entertainment
Di Filippo Marionette
Saturday 22 Feb & Sunday 23 Feb, 6-7pm
Festival Hub
Di Filippo Marionette, led by master puppeteer Remo Di Filippo and Rhoda López, is a renowned international puppetry company known for its innovative marionette performances. The company expertly combines traditional puppetry techniques with modern artistry to create captivating shows.
The company has performed in festivals, theatres, schools, hospitals, prisons, retirement homes and events in more than 25 countries. With extensive tours across the world, Di Filippo Marionette has gained acclaim for its unique style and engaging performances.
The company is known for its meticulous attention to detail and seamless integration of movement and narrative. “Hanging by a Thread” has received awards in Germany, Italy, Russia and Portugal.
Naranjarte
March 1 & March 2, 5:30-6:30pm
Festival Hub & Festival Hub Grassroots Trust Stage
Naranjarte, founded by Ana Lorite and Sergio Aguilar in 2011, is a Spanish Puppet Theatre and Circus company renowned for its unique fusion of puppetry and juggling. From 2017 to 2020, the company toured globally, performing over 200 shows in 14 countries. Their productions captivate audiences with puppetry, juggling, and theatrical illusion, exploring themes of transformation, creativity, and the pursuit of dreams.
The Bell is a wordless visual symphony, where hand-crafted puppets come to life, blending with hypnotic juggling such as buugeng and contact juggling. A grumpy puppet and its apprentice puppeteer arrive on stage with a suitcase full of surprises, creating a magical world of transformations. Catch The Bell live on the Festival Hub Grassroots Trust Stage and keep an eye out for a roving performance from Naranjarte on the last weekend of the festival.
KOHA EVENTS DURING FESTIVAL
OUR COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY
We believe the magic of the arts should be accessible to everybody. That’s why we present more free and live events than any other regional arts festival in New Zealand.
The Hamilton Arts Festival is a uniquely community-driven arts festival. Every year our festival relies on the generosity and time of local businesses, sponsors, venues and volunteers to go ahead.
Here are some fun facts about what makes us tick:
Our commitment to making ticketed shows affordable to as many people as possible means that for every $1 you spend on a ticket, we subsidise a further $2. Thanks to our amazing sponsors, the cost to the public for each ticketed show is subsidised by 70%.
1400 volunteer hours were involved in delivering our 2021 festival. We couldn’t be more grateful for the hard work volunteers put in every year to make our festival what it is!
Faced with a myriad of challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, we launched a crowdfunding campaign to help the festival go ahead in 2022. With the generous support of our community, we managed to raise $25,000 (115% of our original funding target!).
In 2021 over 45,000 people attended a free & live event at our festival.
Check out our always-evolving programme of free and live events at the Hamilton Gardens and around the CBD!