Tauranga Arts Festival goes Annual

In what’s being considered a major coup for the local art scene, Tauranga Arts Festival is to become an annual event.

Festival General Manager, Sarah Cotter, says moving the event from a biennial to an annual festival will cement it, and Tauranga, on the calendars of both the local community and visitors from elsewhere.

“As the region’s only flagship Arts Festival, we recognise the need to become more prominent, accessible and viable for decades to come,” Sarah says. 

The festival has financial support from Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.

Tauranga Arts Festival (TAFT) Chairperson Kathryn Lellman says the trust is excited to be able to plan ahead with Creative NZ backing through to 31 December 2026.

“An annual festival provides a more regular opportunity to gather people together, tell stories, bring joy and create thought provoking opportunities. We are committed to ensuring our festival grows with our city in terms of audience and programming,” she says.

Planning for this year’s festival is involving a “fresh and invigorated” approach driven by two key people, Sarah - formerly with Tauranga City Council in the events development arena -  as General Manager, and Megan Brown, who has come on board as Artistic Director, fresh from the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust.

The two recognise Tauranga has a “budding and burgeoning” art scene. In preparation for the October 23 to November 2, 2025 festival, they are taking stock of what should be incorporated to best benefit the creative pulse of Tauranga Moana 2025.

“There’s been a population shift over the last decade – many people have relocated here after living abroad or in big cities with easy access to arts and culture. We aim to engage that demographic with an exciting programme every year,” Sarah says.

“Our festival has a role to play in, ultimately, making Tauranga a better place to live, … after all, art and performance are vital for people’s well-being,” she adds.

Megan says the programming for this year’s festival will incorporate plenty to appeal to all age groups, and to Tauranga’s diverse and multi-cultural community. 

“The central theme is the concept of "Us" and we can't wait to share that with the community and visitors," she says.

The public can also expect fresh-looking branding and a revamped website that ensures finding events, and buying tickets, are as clear cut as possible. 

Tickets to events will be available from August 14 when the festival will be launched at Baycourt and the line-up of acts revealed.  There is going to be an early sneak peek of a Festival favourite artist announced  this month so Megan says the public should be keeping an eye out for that - they won't be disappointed.. 

Up until now, the TAFT delivered Escape, a Readers and Writers event in alternate years – when the Tauranga Arts Festival was not held.  Rest assured this treasured literary component will not disappear, Sarah says.  It will be incorporated into  the now-annual festival.