“I want to go places and see people, I want my mind to grow, I want to live where things happen on a big scale”- F Scott Fitzgerald.
Do you love festivals and want to dance around with live bands, visit New Zealand where abundant festivals and celebrations go all throughout the year.
Table of Contents
Introduction
There are many festivals to enjoy in NZ which is also appealing to each one’s interest, be it an artist, farmer, businessman, or any other profession. With its unique and outstanding culture, New Zealand is a nation of festivals to enjoy. The people have fun and frolic all year round with lots of creativity. Live entertainment, delicious food and wine, beautiful artwork, fashionable farm animals, healthy and artistic literature, and much more.
Discover about such festivals to enjoy and know where and when you can do it and many Festivals to enjoy in NZ.
11 Popular Festivals Celebrations In Kiwi
1. Fringe Festival
The New Zealand Fringe Festival is one of the festivals to enjoy in NZ which is a community-based event where anyone can bring an original piece of art in any form. There are an expected 100 shows each year featuring a mix of new talent from all over New Zealand. This is one of the festivals to enjoy that takes place in late February and early March in Wellington.
See also: 8 Exotic Places to Eat, Explore and Enjoy in Wellington
A Fringe Society was created in 1959 to organize the growing event. Performers and theatre groups that register with the Fringe Society are listed in an official program and are able to sell tickets through the central box office. Unregistered participants are still welcome, however, and anyone with a venue can put on a show. Because of this policy, a wide variety of shows are available, including children’s shows, comedy, dance, opera, musicals, plays, acrobatics displays, workshops, and buskers.
2. World Buskers Festival
The streets and parks of New Zealand’s Garden City fill up with musicians, acrobats, comedians, and magicians as part of the World Buskers Festival in January. Held at Christchurch the event at Hagley Park becomes “Busker Park” the event’s centre of proceedings.
3. Bluff Oyster Festival
Bluff is situated at the Southernmost tip of New Zealand’s South Island. Their seasonal oyster harvest is something worth celebrating. Bluff oysters, held in May, is recognized on an international level and this is one of the festivals to enjoy in NZ attracting fans from all over the world.
4. The Marlborough Food and Wine Festival
The Food and Wine Festival is held at the beautiful and historic Brancott Estate in the Marlborough wine region. This is one of the festivals to enjoy in NZ where you can enjoy wine-tasting tutorials, take part in a food and wine matching competition and listen to live music. This foodie event takes place in February.
5. Matariki Festival
A month-long celebration begins in New Zealand with the rise of Matariki – a small cluster of stars in the Taurus constellation. Matariki is Maori for “eyes of God” or “little eyes” and in ancient tradition, it indicates the start of a new year. This festival is prominent in June and July and is celebrated all over the country.
6. Pasifika Festival
The Pasifika Festival is the celebration of performing arts and cuisine of the Pacific Island communities. It is the most significant cultural festival in the South Pacific.
Over two days the Pasifika Festival includes a concert featuring songs, dances and stories, and Auckland’s Western Springs Park transforms into 10 villages representing communities from the South Pacific. This festival occurs in March covering the whole region of Auckland.
7. Hertz Sevens Festival
Hertz Sevens is the fourth leg of the Sevens World Series, played at Westpac Stadium and seen as the most famous sporting event in New Zealand’s calendar. 35,000 rugby fans gather in Wellington for the event, but its popularity lies in more than just rugby – there’s a party atmosphere that’s impossible not to get caught up in. This is held in February.
8. Golden Shears Festival
New Zealand is famous for its sheep, so it’s no surprise that the world’s leading shearing competition is held here. For over 5 decades, sheep shearing has been celebrated in the Wairarapa region, and it now attracts competitors from countries including Japan, South Africa, and the UK. This event happens in February and March in the Masterton region.
9. Wearable Art World Festival
The World of Wearable Art features spectacular works of art designed especially for the moving body. The result is a kaleidoscopic showcase of colour and creativity, choreographed into several unforgettable shows. Held in New Zealand’s capital city Wellington, the World of Wearable Art makes for a one-of-a-kind celebration of talented designers and their artwork.
This breathtaking celebration with the biggest design competition takes its audience to the very edge of imagination, combining art, design, and theatre in one magical experience.
10. Hawke’s Bay Festival
The city of Napier due to the huge earthquake of 1931 was rebuilt as one of the purest Art Deco cities in the world. Every year during February, the Deco jazz-age decade of the 1930s represented in Napier’s architecture is celebrated during the Hawke’s Bay Art Deco Festival.
During this festival, the city shines with Deco-era classic cars and aircraft. Locals dressed in Deco-style fashion bring a touch of elegance, transporting the city back in time to an era of glitz and glamour. There are Great Gatsby picnics, fashion shows, outdoor concerts, and more, all held during the week-long festival. Visitors from all over the world delight in the colourful event.
11. Christmas Country Fete
Held in pretty Culverden in the Central South Island, the Christmas Country Fete is a celebration of New Zealand’s country culture; a way of life where everybody grows their veggies and knows their neighbours and Sunday Roast is a weekly ritual. This Fete offers a fun, festive day out in the countryside.
There’s live music, interesting demonstrations, and over two hundred stalls showcasing top New Zealand art, jewellery, fashion, gifts, and plenty of fresh, local food and wine. A gourmet lunch offers a touch of glamour to the event.
Synopsis
Any other festivals we missed out on? Let us know and do not miss attending and enjoying the above festival if you happen to visit NZ in your vacations.
