21 November 2024 - 0 Comments

Get ready to dive into a weekend of uninhibited joy, connection and creative wonder as CubaDupa returns March 29–30, 2025. New Zealand’s largest free street arts festival once again takes over the heart of Wellington’s Cuba Street quarter, celebrating the vibrancy and resilience of local arts, alongside nationwide talent.

This year, CubaDupa shines a spotlight on communal joy, igniting shared moments of play, laughter, and innovation, that everyone can join. Audiences will experience an eclectic mix of street theatre, music, dance, and interactive installations that will transform Wellington’s streets into an open canvas, celebrating our collective energy and creativity. After a year like this, we need it!

CubaDupa is thrilled to announce the first five artists in the 2025 line-up, showcasing New Zealand’s emerging artists alongside established award-winning talents. These artists embody CubaDupa’s spirit of creativity and daring, exploring everything from playful street theatre to genre-bending musical performances.

Highlights include:

- Anna Coddington - Anna Coddington is one of Aotearoa’s most acclaimed singer-songwriters whose songwriting and vocal ability blends into her unique sound. Coddington’s enchanting live performances has graced the stages of Aotearoa’s most loved festivals, and her songwriting ability, both in English and te Reo Māori, has seen Anna nominated for numerous awards as well as winning the 2024 Silver Scrolls Award!.

- Chelsea Jade - Indie-pop icon, critically acclaimed songwriter, and recipient of New Zealand's Critic's Choice Prize, Chelsea Jade is coming to CubaDupa in 2025. Well-known for being the ‘Life Of The Party’, Chelsea is bringing her sophisticated and exhilarating live show back to her home country, Aotearoa. As she likes to say: “BETTER late than never”.

- Mass Frevo Orchestra - Frevo is a vibrant and energetic music style hailing from northern Brazil, especially prominent during Carnival and winter festivals. In the state of Pernambuco, Frevo fills every street with its infectious rhythms and lively spirit. Characterised by high-energy grooves and mass participation, this genre features a mix of portable instruments like sousaphones, trumpets, trombones, woodwinds, and handheld percussion. Imagine it as Brazil's answer to New Orleans' second line music—dynamic, exuberant, and impossible to resist. Local composer and performer Bryn van Vliet will create their own mass street performance of Frevo to close out CubaDupa 2025!

- COLOSSAL - COLOSSAL is a creative production company based in Pōneke. Established in 2014, they specialise in circus, comedy, collaborative performance, design and technology. Producing diverse, innovative and world class creations, COLOSSAL strives to create work for a broad spectrum of audiences with a focus on engagement. In 2025 COLOSSAL will be presenting circus as it's never been seen before, in our exciting new Carnival & Creative Zone.

- Black Comet - Multi-dimensional, galactic funk 5-piece Black Comet, founded by Ninja, Laughton Kora (Kora, L.A.B, Fly My Pretties). Black Comet, is a groove-based experience with narratives, a vessel for experimenting and pushing the ideas of current music. The band has been compared to the “Millennium Falcon making the Kessel run in 12 par-secs”.

Newly appointed CubaDupa Director Bianca Bailey is excited to share the festival announcement this year and get back to basics. “CubaDupa, falling on the last weekend of the summer, signals the wrap up of a stellar festival season, we hope to make it a rocking celebration. We want not only our artists to have a great time, but our audiences, our teams, and our city. We know it’s been a huge year and we’re looking forward to ending it with a big show in the Cuba Quarter that people won’t forget.”

Each of these artists contributes to CubaDupa’s bold vision, embodying the festival’s core values of play, celebration, and connection. With street theatre and immersive experiences at every turn, CubaDupa 2025 is a festival not only to witness but to experience fully, as we celebrate the boundless joy of coming together in the streets.

For full festival details, programme announcements and artist information, visit cubadupa.co.nz and follow us on social media @CubaDupa

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