The Cuba Street precinct soon will be invigorated with the pulse of music and dancing in the streets en masse.

Performers at CubaDupa, Australasia’s largest free multi-arts festival, will be using the street as their stage - encouraging audience participation. Drew James, CubaDupa’s Artistic Director says high-energy events like Hoot! will blow you away and get you up dancing. Hoot! is a streetband extravaganza.

“Imagine being swept away in a musical amalgamation of 300 musicians! We turn the stage sound systems off for 2 hours of musical mayhem at street level. Hoot! is a performance that is completely unique to CubaDupa and celebrates the essence of the street festival experience.”

Hoot! is a collaborative 45-minute performance with 15 bands from New Zealand and around the world, parading and playing all over the Cuba St precinct for an epic showdown.

There will be something for everyone at CubaDupa, with the street performance line-up offering a broad spectrum of music and performing arts.

Haven’t experienced opera before? CubaDupa has opera covered in a way that allows the audience to get up close and personal with the opera singers. Called ‘Coffee Cantata’ this 15 minute opera is presented in association with New Zealand Opera and will be performed in Hannahs Courtyard where the singers will use the architecture of Wellington's alleyways to perform their high-notes.

The magic of CubaDupa is in its diversity and audience engagement. Dress Up Jam is dress ups with a twist, where host performers offer an array of costumes and props encouraging participants to unlock their playful, performative side.

Or the immersive experience in the swirling sounds and hypnotic beats of the audio-visual extravaganza that is Kuki Koori. Featuring Fat Freddy's Drop keyboardist Iain 'Kuki blaze' Gordon and visual artist Mick 'Koori boy' Finn, they create experimental work that crosses over from installation art to Berlin night club.

Binge Culture offers a completely different experience with their interactive game giving the audience a chance to go undercover in this mass-participation spy game where participants will start receiving instructions via text to complete their secret mission.

CubaDupa, will be held on the weekend of 30-31 March 2019.

CubaDupa’s street performance line-up of theatre, music, and dance includes the wacky and wonderful: Barbarian - Dress up jam Binge Culture Hoot! Streetband Extravaganza Kuki Kori Le Dance New Zealand Opera - Coffee Cantarta Orchestra Wellington - Pasefika With many more to be announced in coming weeks.

These street performances join the music acts including: Cha Wa (New Orleans) Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra (Canada) Electric Fields (Sydney) Hot Potato (Sydney) Touch Compass (NZ) Alien Weaponry Tunes of I (Wellington) Phoenix Foundation (Wellington) Strangely Arousing Same Name Confusion Arthur Ahbez (Auckland) About CubaDupa: CubaDupa is an absolutely, positively unique arts festival.


During the event, Wellington’s beloved inner-city Bohemian precinct around Cuba St will be transformed into a unique street festival that celebrates creativity and art in all its forms - from dance music to opera, kids’ activities to parades, visual art to a wide range of food and beverage stalls…and more!

The weekend will be crammed with free entertainment for the entire family with 250 performances programmed over 17 hours across seven stages. This world class entertainment schedule and summer vibes is a magnet to the capital as 100,000 people from Wellington and beyond participated in the free event during the last weekend in March.

Festival-goers are encouraged to express their own creative nature though dressing up, wearing masks and participating in the many interactive visual art, dance, music, theatre and roaming performances.

Further announcements of performance and music to come.


Key facts about CubaDupa Free of charge all ages event.

Date: Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 March 2019 Where: Seven stages in the Cuba St precinct and roaming street performances Entertainment 250 performances across two days of local, national and international talent, including acts from Canada, USA and Australia.

CubaDupa publicity shots, music and performance artist hi-res photos can be found here. CubaDupa own channels: Facebook/Cubadupa Instagram/Cubadupa For more information about CubaDupa 2019, visit: www.cubadupa.co.nz
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