Auckland Arts Festival Has Unveiled a Diverse Lineup for 2019

Following yesterday's announcement of six heavyweight music acts, the full lineup has now been revealed for Auckland Arts Festival 2019 (Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Makaurau). The eleventh edition of the arts and culture celebration returns from 7-24 March with a program of over 42 theatre, dance, music and visuals arts events across Tāmaki Makaurau.

New for 2019 is Toitū Te Reo, a program which will support the festival's commitment to the celebration and normalisation of te reo Māori. The first event as part of Toitū Te Reo is free waiata event TIRA taking place in Aotea Square on 7 March. The event has been described as "a massive, sing-along/outdoor-karaoke," sung in te reo Māori and led by Stan Walker, Maisey Rika, Ria Hall and Troy Kingi.

Elsewhere in the music department, Kiwi songwriter Anthonie Tonnon will team up with Stardome for 360-degree storytelling experience A Synthesized Universe, while in Aotea Square's speitgeltent accomplished percussionists from the APO and the ANAM will unite to perform Terry Riley's 'In C'.

As usual, the festival has wrangled its fair share of big theatre productions. A centrepiece of the festival is Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter's Grand Finale. The dance work has been described as "part-gig, part-dance, part-theatre." AAF audiences will also get to experience confrontational black comedy Ulster American which took out the Best of Edinburgh Fringe Award, join the action on stage and learn one of Shakespeare's sonnets as part of immersive theatrical experience By Heart, and witness a mashup of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Tang Xianzu's The Peony Pavilion in physical theatre piece The Dreamer.

Adelaide's Gravity & Other Myths' newest circus, Backbone, is a breath-taking show which shows superhuman athleticism, family show Jelly or Jam combines food and acrobatics, and "Champagne cabaret" Blanc de Blanc will offer a night of breathtaking acrobatics, swinging tunes, bare skin and more than a few surprises.

Auckland Arts Festival will run from March 7–24, 2019. Tickets are on sale now at aucklandfestival.co.nz. 

Image: Rahi Rezvani, Grand Finale.