‘Katcha’ the festival fire!

Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora Ki Kirikiriroa has launched its 2025 programme, starting with a ‘massive concert’ featuring Hamilton City Brass and a combined Festival Chorus performing Carl Orff’s famous cantata, Carmina Burana.

At the other end of the festival, popular Pacific roots band and ‘hometown legends’, Katachafire, will celebrate 28 years by revisiting their debut album Revival.

Organisers said the line up is focused firmly on high quality performance work with 800 performing artists featuring in over 40 events over 10 days between February 21 – March 2, 2025.

As well as ticketed events spanning multiple genres of comedy, theatre, music and immersive experiences, there will be free action and events in the gardens festival hub.

Festival board chair Chris Williams said the vision for the festival was to focus on high quality performance works, building on the 2024 event which he described as “one of our best”. He said a strong programme led to a 40% increase in ticket sales, with 28% of attendees coming from outside of the Waikato region. Williams also highlighted the diverse range of ages and younger audiences attending.

Mayor Paula Southgate said the arts were an essential part of a community and that the festival “inspired the next generation of creatives”. She said as well as showcasing the gardens and the city, it had a positive economic impact on local businesses, especially with the out of town visitors it attracted.

Festival Director Geoff Turkington said he’d been working on the event from his kitchen table for the past 6 months but was excited to be rejoining the wider team as they gear up for February. He described Hamilton Arts Festival, Toi Ora Ki Kirikiriroa (or ‘HAFTOK’ to those in the know) as the “largest and most magical festival in Aoteoroa” and a unique voice on the national stage.

Williams said the entire team was motivated to continue to grow and build a sustainable business within the arts, and was proud that the festival had made a small profit, as well as securing a second, successive Creative NZ grant.

Turkington said the festival bridges cultures, perspectives, and generations. “This year’s festival programme is a quirky, vibrant celebration of art, culture, and community in the heart of Hamilton, New Zealand’s fastest growing city.”

The programme includes a new readers and writers component, HamLit, along with performances from kiwi acting icons Michael Hurst and Jennifer Ward-Lealand, NZ Opera, Indian Ink theatre, Nathan Haines, and a range of whanau friendly kids shows.

Turkington said “While it’s a showcase of creativity, it’s also a gathering of diverse voices and stories, reflecting the richness of our community through the universal language of the arts. It’s also a lot of fun!”

The festival will mainly be held on site at the gardens but there will be some shows at city theatre venues including The Meteor, Clarence Street and Riverlea Theatre and Last Place.

To check out the full programme head to Hamilton Arts Festival Toi Ora ki Kirikiriroa to check out the full programme.