The annual Auckland Arts Festival (AAF) is coming back in 2020 from March 11 to 29 with a packed programme of more than 40 individual events in various locations around Auckland.
If you like choice, the multi-arts festival features theatre, dance, circus, cabaret, opera, music, and visual arts. The 2020 programme in particular is about celebrating people and culture, and it doesn’t shy away from tackling some of the hot topics facing the world today like climate change. But it’s not all tough. At the end of the day, the festival is about entertaining audiences so escapism, joy and laughter are also part of the programme.
My top picks for AAF 2020 include Ballet Preljocaj’s Snow White where high fashion meets dark retelling of an iconic fairytale (I even wrote about the show last year), Trans-Tasman wedding rom-com Black Ties set to a live score of brown anthems and wedding staples, critically-acclaimed play Mouthpiece about class, culture and appropriation, plus sexy circus-cabaret Limbo Unhinged.
Last year’s Toitū Te Reo programme continues in AAF 2020, which stresses a commitment to the celebration and normalisation of te reo Māori. During the festival, te reo Māori will be heard, seen and felt every day. Included in the programme is a free concert in Aotea Square for opening night. Hollie Smith, Hātea Kapa Haka and local choirs will lead the crowd in a concert featuring Smith’s hit Bathe In The River, and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody sung in te reo Māori.
Visit the AAF website if you want to have a look through their full 2020 programme.
