ESCAPE WITH US - SAVE THE DATES!

Escape programme announcement: 4 August
The countdown is on. Keep your peepers on all the channels from 6.30pm on Thursday 4 August as we announce the 2022 Escape Festival programme.

Escape Festival: 12 to 16 October
You have four months to consume as many books as you can. A) Because it’s good for you and B) Because the 2022 Escape Festival returns 12 to 16 October! Starting mid-week with writers and live performance, we have a weekend jam-packed with thought-provoking, perspective-changing and maybe - just maybe - the odd debate-creating panel, talk and discussion. Plus a workshop, kids' events and more. We can’t wait to see you there.

Escape morning tea: 14 October
The hugely popular Escape morning tea will return in 2022! Taking place this year at Trinity Wharf Tauranga, the event - hosted by a very special culinary guest - has a limited capacity of just 100. Please mark your diaries and get your leave forms filled in now: Friday, 14 October, 10.00 to 11.30am.

MATARIKI AT THE INCUBATOR
Ngā mihi o Matariki, te tau hou Māori!

Every year the fabulous team at The Incubator Creative Hub work alongside the Matariki Tauranga Moana committee to deliver a diverse array of Toi Māori Arts events to the Tauranga Moana community. This year is no exception - in fact, this year they are offering the biggest and most diverse programme yet.

“With 2022 being the first year that Matariki is celebrated with a public holiday, we really wanted to pull out all the stops and showcase some of the amazing Māori artists that live and work in Tauranga Moana,” says The Incubator Director, Simone Anderson.

The programme includes seven art exhibitions, live music, a cinematic showcase, a market day, an artist panel talk, and 14 workshops with the opportunity for anyone to learn new skills such as haka, storytelling through tukutuku, an introduction to planting by maramataka, how to make Rongoa balms, through to crafting and performance of taonga pūoro.

The Matariki programme includes showcasing of their Matariki Film Festival over the month-long celebrations in the newly refurbished and repurposed The Village Cinema. The film festival features a range of short films, music videos, documentaries and guest speakers by Māori filmmakers, along with the opportunity for members of the community to share photographs and details of their loved ones who have died in the past year, to be shared on The Village Cinema big screen.

This Sunday, 19 June, the Matariki market will run from 9am to 2pm.

Check out the full programme here. And for other Tauranga Matariki events, please visit the Tauranga City Council website.

ALL THAT JAZZ
Jazz hands! The Tauranga Jazz Festival is back and the beloved local event is nearly 60. Come along to the 59th annual Port of Tauranga Jazz Festival from 19 to 26 June.

From Mandy Meadows and Chris Williamson performing the music of Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald, to Midge Marsden, to the Count Basie Orchestra, and the brilliant Rodger Fox Big Band, 10 world-class jazz events explode into the Baycourt Community and Arts Centre spaces from this weekend, alongside the always-special, three-day, 44th National Youth Jazz Competition. Shimmy along for some toe-tapping tunes.

Check out the full programme here.

THE SUN THAT NEVER SETS - MIDNIGHT SUN UNVEILED
Matariki is a time of new beginnings and one very special moment of this nature is taking place in central Tauranga next week. The spectacular, immersive artwork by New Zealand artist Sara Hughes, Midnight Sun, will be unveiled at a special event on Tuesday 21 June, giving new life to the former Willow Street bus shelter.

In development since early 2021, and commissioned by Supercut Projects in collaboration with Tauranga City Council, Midnight Sun comprises 96 individual panels of glass together creating a total of 260 square metres. It is suspended above the bus shelter and wraps around the wall and front of Tauranga Art Gallery to Wharf Street, creating a beautiful corridor of coloured light for central city-dwellers, both day and night.

ACCOMMODATION REQUIRED
Do you have a rental apartment, a self-contained unit, or a holiday planned in September / October? We are on the hunt for one to two bedroom accommodation for our Artistic Director and her family, here for the Escape Festival, from 25 September - 18 October. Please email info@taurangafestival.co.nz.

BECOME A PATRON
Established in 1998, The Tauranga Arts Festival Trust has been presenting the best arts and culture from here and around the world for well over 20 years.

We invite you to become part of our cherished whānau of patrons who share our enthusiasm for the arts and play a major role in building the future. Your support would help us maintain and develop a vibrant and diverse programme of arts, culture, literary events, and entertainment for all of our community to enjoy.

For your support, you receive:

• Two-year patron membership to include an Escape and Tauranga Arts Festivals
• Priority booking options
• Access to special events
• If you are amenable, we will also acknowledge your generosity on our marketing materials.

Patron levels include Gold $3000, Silver $1500, Family/Individual $500 and Small Business from $500+GST. Payment options can be discussed with the Festival team.

For further information please contact info@taurangafestival.co.nz or visit the our website.