Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival (TTAF) is growing its offerings across the region, moving beyond a festival-only experience to a year-round programme of events and creative opportunities.
Trust Tairāwhiti has committed $600k to a staged strategic partnership with TTAF, supporting the first year of the festival’s new ten-year strategy, Te Uranga Mai o te Rā – Land of the Living Light.
The partnership recognises the festival’s growing role in supporting regional creative capability, cultural identity, tourism and economic development.
“Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival has become an important cultural and creative platform for the region. It creates opportunities for our local artists, rangatahi and creative workforce, while bringing high-quality arts experiences to our region and sharing the stories and identity of Tairāwhiti with wider audiences,” says the Trust’s general manager communities, Audine Grace-Kutia.
Phase one of the new strategy focuses on setting the foundations for enduring cultural, social and economic value in the region. This includes developing local creative capability and pathways, building skills across production and event delivery, and creating original Tairāwhiti-led work with national reach and future touring potential.
“It’s a new beginning in our commitment to enhance wellbeing, creativity and economic opportunity through the arts and create experiences that are uniquely Tairāwhiti,” says TTAF festival director, Ani-Piki Tuari.
The 2026 programme includes a new curator’s apprenticeship programme, a scriptwriters’ workshop for East Coast storytellers, and the return of Te Ara i Whiti – an interactive light trail, which attracted a record 18,000 visits in 2025. This year, Te Ara i Whiti will also feature After Glow, a new addition aimed at platforming local artists and emerging talent.
These initiatives sit alongside TTAFs wider programme of local and nationally recognised artists and experiences, supporting its ambition to grow creative leadership and opportunities from Te Tairāwhiti outwards.
The full 2026 programme is available on the TTAF website.
Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival upcoming events
Photo credit: Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival