Welcome to the Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival

Nau mai, haere mai ki te Ahurei Toi o Te Matau a Maui

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner. You are a collective of every experience you have had in your life. You are every single day. So drown yourself in a sea of knowledge and existence. Let the words run through your veins and let the colours fill your mind.”  Jac Vanek

These words by Jan Vanek and our theme this year “Be Open” is our aspiration for the Festival, to encourage our community to be open to ideas and experiences that delight, challenge and entertain. That collectively we are open and accepting of ideas and experiences that unite us and make us richer.

Our small but perfectly formed 10 day Festival that ran from 16-31st October was intimate and beautiful with many poignant moments.  

From 9-13 November, Hawke's Bay Youth Theatre will present April's Fool as the final part of the Festival for 2021.  You can read about that production here

There will be a number of Festival delights in the early part of 2022, that we were unable to present in October.  You can purchase tickets for those performances here

See you over the coming months as we continue to celebrate the arts in Hawke's Bay. 

Kia pai te rā.