The 2026 Nelson Arts Festival gets underway tomorrow with 11 days of creative theatre, dance, music, literature and visual arts to enchant residents and visitors to our stunning region.
Nelson has a strong arts heritage – from early Māori creativity to institutions such as the Suter, Theatre Royal and Nelson Centre of Musical Arts. The creation of the World of Wearable Art in Nelson and events such as our Jewellery and Clay weeks and Adam Chamber Music Festival reinforce our credentials. Progress on the delivery of He Tātai Whetū, Whakatū Nelson’s Arts and Creativity Strategy 2022-32 and Hiwa, our new arts development agency, show continued commitment.
We also host the Nelson Arts Festival – New Zealand’s longest-running annual regional arts festival. Now in its 32nd year, the 2026 festival has plenty for everyone. I expect The Big Spring Street Party in Upper Trafalgar Street this Saturday, from 12 noon to 9pm (free) will be a family favourite with live performances including circus, music, dancing, roving artists.
Another popular attraction is the contemporary circus company Machine de Cirque on at the Trafalgar Centre with two shows already sold-out. Visit www.nelsonartsfestival.nz to get tickets for the remaining performance and see the full programme of festival events – there is a huge array of creativity and vibrancy to experience.
My thanks to everyone involved in staging the festival, from the Nelson Festivals Trust, led by Board Chair Ali Boswijk, and the Nelson Arts Festival team, led by General Manager Ruth Roebuck, to the Technical and Delivery Team and the volunteers. Council is proud to be the core funder of the festival.
The creative sector is important to Nelson, which is known to many as the arts capital of New Zealand. To recognise and help strengthen the sector, Council has made a bid for Nelson to become a UNESCO Creative City for Crafts and Folk Art.
UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network includes more than 400 cities globally that have distinctive creative sectors in eight different fields – architecture, crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts and music.
Our goal is for a positive decision in 2027.
