12 February 2024 - 0 Comments

The New Zealand Fringe Festival’s 2024 season kicks off this week, on Friday 16 February, for its 34th year of being the leading open-access arts festival in Aotearoa. NZ Fringe has earned its title, The Birthplace of Brilliance, by presenting exceptional artists every year, and the line-up for the 2024 programme is no exception. For the next 26 days, over 800 homegrown and international artists will be in-and-around Pōneke presenting their creative, boundary-pushing, and diverse events.

Festival tickets are on sale on the festival website now (fringe.co.nz). With almost 4000 tickets already sold, the festival is currently up 100 tickets in sales compared to this time last year. With this number likely to increase even further in the coming weeks, 2024 is currently the best-selling NZ Fringe Festival ever. The diversity of the 2024 programme is huge, spanning a variety of genres, mediums, performers, and performance spaces. Not to be missed this year are award-winning theatre productions, inventive comedy shows, death-defying cabaret and circus performances, as well as multimedia film screenings, art exhibition pieces, musical numbers, and even an album release with a 40-piece orchestra .

Director of NZ Fringe Festival, Vanessa Stacey says: “The whole NZ Fringe team are incredibly excited to kick off our 34th year of exceptional arts and culture. With so much innovation on offer across Pōneke, there’s no shortage of amazement to experience and I will be running to catch as much as I can. Highlights for me include The Wave of the Woman, The New Blue - A Portrait of Pixie, Circus of the Night, You and AI, Show Do Café and of course our international award-winners ENDHOE (Aus), Whore’s Eye View (US), The Hilary Duff Film Re-Enactment (Aus) and Mark Pleases You (US), and the launch of our new, free entry Late Night Fringe Hubbub. There are also countless premieres of exciting new works to celebrate. Don’t miss out on the birth of the next big thing, come and get amongst it — tickets are selling fast!”

NZ Fringe events are being hosted at 50 performance spaces across the Wellington Region in 2024. Events are returning to some of the top theatre venues in Pōneke such as the Hannah Playhouse, BATS Theatre, Te Auaha, Circa, The Gryphon Theatre (FATG), and the Fringe Bar. NZ Fringe will also take over innovative locales for whānau-friendly events, such as Martin Luckie Park in Berhampore, Awhi Yoga and Wellbeing, the Wellington Waterfront and Campbell Park, Paekākāriki.

Thanks to Public Trust, one stellar production has also received the honour of presenting their show at the newly renovated Public Trust Hall. Māreikura Lumina: A Celestial Symphony of Sound, Light, and Culture by #19 Productions will play for one night only (8 March) – utilising the large space and elegant decor through a fusion of music, projections, and Māori creativity. This is an event not to be missed this festival season!

Backed by its small, but passionate team, NZ Fringe could not be the festival that it is today without the mahi from its registered artists, all venues, as well as key festival partners: Wellington City Council, Creative New Zealand, NV Interactive, Inject Design, NZME, the Lion Foundation, and Manatū Taonga: Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

NZ Fringe would like to thank all festival sponsors and partners: Wellington Airport, Bluestar, Garage Project, KPMG, Public Trust Hall, Phantom Billstickers, Radio Active, Silk Event Design, Aro Digital, Good Fortune Coffee Co., Go Media, Resene, Naumi Hotels, Four Winds Foundation, Pub Charity, Australian High Commission, Brennan Wines, Wellington City Council, Creative New Zealand, NV Interactive, Inject Design, NZME, the Lion Foundation, and Manatū Taonga: Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Thank you also to the NZ Fringe award sponsors: Wellington Airport, Inject Design, NZME, Te Auaha, Sydney Fringe Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival, The Adelaide Fringe, Dunedin Fringe Festival, Auckland Fringe Festival, BATS Theatre, Phantom Billstickers, Chris and Kathy Parkin, Victoria University of Wellington, and the Wellington City Council Mayor’s Office.

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