Nelson is rightly renowned for the arts, which give our city soul. A range of events throughout the year provide opportunities for our talented artists to shine and audiences to be entertained.
The Nelson Arts Festival is the city’s flagship arts event. The 2023 Festival drew thousands of people to 54 events over 11 days, from 19 to 29 October, for its 29th year. There was music, theatre, poetry, workshops, talks and activities.
Many of the events were free including the vibrant and popular Mask Carnivale, which made a welcome return for the first time since 2019 after being disrupted by Covid. Bringing our city centre alive with colour and music, the Mask Carnivale is a firm family favourite activity and it was great to have it back on the streets.
Nelson City Council supports the Nelson Arts Festival, which is run by the Nelson Festivals Trust. The board and hardworking Festival team members are focused on providing opportunities for Nelson’s culturally and socially diverse community. We have iconic heritage arts venues such as the Suter, Theatre Royal and Nelson Centre of Musical Arts but they require events such as the Arts Festival to bring them to life.
My thanks to the Festival Trust and team members, all the artists and the festival goers who made the 2023 event such a creative, colourful, lively event, solidifying its place in Nelson’s and New Zealand’s arts calendars.
While the Festival might be a wrap for the year, there is still plenty of talent on show at the Trafalgar Centre in Nelson, which is this week hosting Te Mana Kuratahi, the national primary schools kapa haka competition.
The four-day event, which started on Monday, involves 45 primary school kapa haka groups from across New Zealand. Usually staged every two years, this is the first time the competition has been held for four years due to Covid disruptions.
Big thanks for the huge local effort that has gone into bringing this event to Nelson. It gives us the opportunity to celebrate our Māori heritage and the spectacular artform of dance and music that is kapa haka.
