New Look! New Name! New Diagnoses!
DAT Fest 2024 coming in hot! The Team is assembled and ready to bring the most inclusive festival in Aotearoa, New
Zealand.
From humble beginnings in 2022, to a six week turn-around in 2023 to now a CreativeNZ funded fully staffed phenomenon of
a festival. DAT Fest, co-directed by disabled royalty Creatif Kate (She/Her) and Susan Williams (They/Them), have
assembled a fully D/deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse team of specialists to ensure inclusivity and accessibility are at
the heart of everything they do and everything the festival is.
DAT Fest is a two-week spectacular, designed to showcase and elevate the abundant talent in the DDN communities, and
provide opportunities to practice, upskill, and connect.
DAT Fest’s aim is to provide accessible opportunities for DDN performers and creatives to upskill, showcase work, and
connect with peers; to provide accessible and welcoming public shows; to provide accessible and relevant workshops to
DDN performers; to lead by example, and to centre intersectionality, inclusivity, with a human rights based approach
(especially the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities, and #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs) and upholding Te
Tiriti o Waitangi; to hold accessibility at the centre of what we do, and do our best for everyone involved with the
festival; to respect each other’s, energy, abilities, individuality, and needs; to uplift each other and our
communities; DAT Fest aims to be better each year than the year before, to take individual needs into account, and to
seek and reflect community feedback.