The stats are in for the recently completed New Zealand Fringe Festival (NZFF) - and its being touted as another record-breaking, successful showing from the self-titled 'Birthplace of Brilliance'.

During the event's three-week run, more than 23,000 tickets were sold across 170 events and over 40 performance spaces in Wellington - spanning a huge number of artforms including theatre, dance, cabaret, circus, comedy and music. 

NZFF Director Vanessa Stacey states “There’s been such an exceptional range of emerging talent coming from Pōneke and beyond, and they have created some excellent and innovative productions—with plenty more in the bag I’m sure!

"The amazing audiences that come to support the arts and share in the Fringe joy with us prove that the NZ Fringe Festival is a special part of our city.”

While variety and diversity is always the mantra for any Fringe event worth its salt, it's also an opportunity to hail the best of the best coming through - often seen as a launch-pad to bigger things.  

The annual award ceremony saw 19 artists and shows recognised for an array of fields, with one-woman show For You to Know and Me to Find Out (top image - photo: Andi Crown) awarded the coveted Best in Fringe, as well as both the Sydney Fringe and Adelaide Fringe Tour Ready Awards.

Creator Olivia Tennet considers this a win for mums everywhere - her show highlighting the juggle of simultaneously trying to keep a small person alive while also trying to keep your artistic identity alive. 

She told The Lowdown "To be awarded on the final night was the biggest thrill, and the most wonderful surprise - on top of what was already an incredibly positive and enriching experience participating in my very first fringe festival.

"To be completely honest, I don’t think I would have seriously considered taking my show further afield if not for the encouragement of the judges and festival team. When you’ve made a solo show, with pretty minimal input from other people, it’s sometimes hard to see the wood from the trees. 

"I wasn’t entirely sure if what I’d made would resonate with anyone else, or whether it was maybe something I needed to explore personally, and then move on to the next thing.

"With the backing and support of the NZ Fringe Festival through their Tour Ready Awards, it’s incredibly exciting to now think about sharing my mahi with a wider audience, in Australia and beyond.

"Artists can be notoriously insecure about sharing our own work and - though we might not care to admit it - external validation does actually mean a lot, and can be the difference between realising a goal, such as touring internationally, or abandoning it. 

"I can honestly say that without these awards, I’m not sure my show would have had another season. Touring opportunities are so few and far between, and usually come with major financial risks that most artists are unable to take. 

"I could not be more grateful to NZ Fringe Festival for not only providing these incredible opportunities to artists every year, but this time around, for granting me the opportunity of a lifetime."

This Wasn't the Plan: A Musical Theatre Cabaret also grabbed one of the Tour Ready Awards with Auckland Fringe, to go along with the Outstanding Solo Performance gong.

Creator Glenn Horsfall told The Lowdown that the double triumph means more than he can really put into words. 

"What began as a very personal challenge - to tell my story through cabaret - has grown into something that clearly resonates beyond myself. Having that recognition and tautoko from industry peers is humbling, and it gives me the confidence (and the push!) to take this work to new audiences, both here in Aotearoa and further afield. 

"The awards feel like a reminder that sometimes the plans we didn’t make end up leading us exactly where we’re meant to be."

S.L.U.G. Theatre Company also had a night to remember - winning Most Promising Emerging Company and the Parkin Development Award for one of their two Fringe shows Below The Worms - and Luchiano Edwards Tuioti's A Master of None: Brown Fala collected both the Most Promising Pasifika Artist and Momentous Music Awards.

Southern spotlight

While the Capital's Fringe whānau bask in its afterglow, its Deep South counterpart is firing on all cylinders - from castles to carparks.

The Dunedin Fringe (running through until 23 March) is bringing its usual creative chaos to Otago, keeping to its kaupapa of no curation and no gatekeeping - allowing artists to push boundaries, take risks and bring their concepts to life.

They're also making sure their community is represented as well as entertained, with 38 of the over 90 events (42%) coming from Ōtepoti - many of those shows selling out, proving that audiences love to back their own.

Dunedin Fringe Co-Director Ruth Harvey told The Lowdown "We believe everyone is creative and everyone has the right to express themselves creatively.  Our expansive view of art helps to foster a richly diverse creative ecosystem in Ōtepoti - along with many of our peer organisations - and in these very tough times, we remain committed to advocating for the value creativity brings to communities.

"We also support young recent graduates into the profession through our internship programme, which ensures production, marketing and arts administration professionals are emerging along with artists themselves."

25 years after the event was co-founded by Antony Deaker (still the festival's Iwi Liaison) and Caro McCaw, Dunedin Fringe is growing from strength to strength.

"We’d sold 5,120 tickets by the end of our first weekend, which broke recent records – given the cost of living crisis and the financial pressure on households, we’re delighted with those results," Harvey details.

"44% of events are free, koha, or under $15: while these price points ensure accessibility for festival audiences, I note that these low price points probably make it harder for artists to break even, particularly as the funding crisis in the arts continues to bite."

Woah - Mad!

Another well-established performance staple is also celebrating its successes - with WOMAD Aotearoa proclaiming to have exceeded expectations with over 12,000 attendees daily.

The 22nd edition of WOMAD at New Plymouth's Bowl of Brooklands saw 45 international and local performances - including the debut of the Tui Stage, giving eight homegrown DJs and producers a spotlight of their own.

WOMAD Aotearoa Programmer, Emere Wano, states, "The Tui Stage is a celebration of Aotearoa's dynamic and diverse electronic scene, offering a platform for local DJs and producers to shine and connect with a vibrant, new audience—and for us to connect with them. What a special addition to the festival!"

The Lowdown loves a good arts stat - and WOMAD is happy to oblige, heralding the input from over 500 volunteers and more than 1,000 staff members, combining for 17 kilometres of fencing, 7 km of cabling and 382 lighting fixtures, while noting the festival recycled or composted over 70% of its 23,060kg of waste.

As for the event's longevity - since first presented in Taranaki in 2003, WOMAD Aotearoa has presented over 500 acts and 1500 performers from 95 countries with 150,000 visitors generating over $100 million for the local economy.

Leilua's next leap

Stacey Leilua's already had an extraordinary creative career as a performer and producer - but she's not afraid to grab a trainee hat for her next artistic challenge.

A founding member and company director of the Kila Kokonut Krew, Leilua has a string of accolades on her CV including co-producing New Zealand’s first Pacific musical, The Factory, which headlined the 2013 Auckland Arts Festival before touring to Edinburgh and becoming a 20-part web series; performing in Tusiata Avia's iconic shows Wild Dogs Under My Skirt and The Savage Coloniser Show; writing for the Pacific Arts Aotearoa collection and starring in Hollywood hit TV show Young Rock. 

She's now taking that talent in a new direction, receiving the Moana Pacific Trainee Script Advisor Residency for 2025. An initiative between CNZ and Playmarket, the residency aims to grow script advisor skills and support the development of Pasifika stories for the stage and performing arts.

Leilua told The Lowdown "With over twenty years of industry experience, I feel an acute awareness of the responsibility to uphold and evolve the storytelling of our people, and the importance of upskilling in order to do that. 

"I'm committed to finding ways to give back to our communities, and being selected for this residency is a wonderful opportunity to do so.

"There is a growing need for writers and dramaturgs to advocate for Māori and Pasifika voices. With this residency, I hope to be able to support our theatre-makers, particularly those working within indigenous and diasporic communities, to refine and strengthen our rich and complex stage representation."

Leilua will be working with professional script advisors and directors and receives a stipend to support her development.

Playmarket Director Murray Lynch states "She brings a wealth of experience and immense talent. We’re excited to see how her time on residency will help shape the future of Pasifika storytelling on stage.” 

CNZ's Senior Manager of Pacific Arts, Makerita Urale adds "Dramaturgy is an essential part of theatre development, and having practitioners with a strong understanding of script analysis strengthens Pasifika storytelling on stage and screen. Fa’afetai lava to all the wonderful mentors for their partnership and the Playmarket team."

No more waiting for Te Wake

A trailblazing trans Māori filmmaker is representing New Zealand on the international stage - and in front of an extraordinary audience.

New Zealand filmmaker Ramon Te Wake has been selected for the prestigious Five Films For Freedom 2025, a global LGBTQIA+ short film festival presented by the British Council and BFI Flare that is touted to reached 26 million people in over 200 countries in the last 10 years. 

Wait, Wait, Now! explores childhood friendship and self-expression through the story of two best friends who raid a mother's wardrobe, creating a safe fantasy world - until their parents discover them.

Te Wake told The Lowdown what it means to be chosen to represent Aotearoa in this event.

"When we got accepted into BFI Flare LGBTIQ+ London Film Festival we thought, 'wow this is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us as filmmakers from Aotearoa'. 

"But then we got selected for Five Films For Freedom and that just took the whole experience to another level. What the FFFF program stands for and what it means on a global scale is all of the things that are meaningful to us as filmmakers. 

"We made a film that is about friendship and freedom and the power of family love and acceptance. And for that to be acknowledged and embraced in this way, feels like we're able to contribute something good to the world. And we need these kinds of hopeful messages more so now, than ever."

All movies will be shown in free public screenings across Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, Tauranga, Napier, Kerikeri, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Dunedin, Hokitika, Nelson and Gisborne and Suva between now and 30 March.

Ashburton accolades

Arts awards continue to attract record entries - with the Zonta Ashburton Women’s Art Awards the latest to register unprecedented numbers.

126 entries from emerging and mid-career artists who identify as women living and working in Canterbury where whittled down to 30 finalists for the Premier Award and 25 for the Young Generation Award. 

Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum Director Shirin Khosraviani spoke about the amazing number of entries for this year’s awards, resulting in the Young Generation category being allocated its own gallery space for the first time. She also noted the high caliber of work that was submitted to the awards this year, which resulted in a particularly tough selection process.  

Julia Holderness was crowned the $4,000 Premier Award winner in the competition's ninth year for her work Villa Margaux: a studio archive - what appears to be an historical record of a 1930s residency in France but is entirely fictional, created by Holderness question the notion of archival truth.  

Holderness told The Lowdown "I was delighted to be recognised in this way. It's really validating for it to be judged anonymously, meaning the judges were really looking at the work as a stand alone piece. I'm delighted they thought it was generous and sensual and that it successfully challenges the notion of the singular art object, elevating studio practice and research.

"I am excited to develop a solo exhibition for Ashburton Gallery next year." 

The ZAWAA25 Young Generation Award went to Margerette Erfe for her sculptural entry I’m an open book? The judges described the work as ‘an endearing, tiny stage set made from book pages that is cleverly constructed and suggests a profusion of competing possible selves and ideas.’  

Erfe told The Lowdown “I didn’t expect to win the award at all, so I was completely overwhelmed with joy and surprise. I feel incredibly grateful towards my art teachers for pushing me and encouraging me throughout my high school journey.”

Judge Kyla Mackenzie expressed that "exhibiting at The Ashburton Art Gallery is an important first step for many. Putting yourself out there like this is a huge deal and has made for two diverse, compelling exhibitions."

The ZAWAA awards exhibition will be on display until 27 April, alongside last year's Premier Award Marie Porter’s exhibition, Recloaking.

Doing it for the kids

Did you know Thursday 20 March is Take a Child to the Theatre Day?

Also known as World Day of Theatre and Performance for Children and Young People - it's the perfect time for Performing Arts and Young People Aotearoa (PAYPA) to announce their plans for 2025.

The youth performing arts sector has been dealt with all-too-regular blows, including seeing the likes of Tim Bray Theatre Company, Capital E and Young and Hungry close its doors for a variety of reasons in recent times.

So the work that PAYPA does to keep a focus on involving rangatahi in the theatre works is even more crucial.

With Organisational funding from CNZ, PAYPA is offering its mentoring programme for emerging and established artists, as well as an upcoming 3-day professional Creative Residency aimed to encourage artists who have previously led the creation of theatre and/or dance productions to consider new ideas for younger audiences (complete with meals, accommodation, a stipend, workshops, rehearsal, and meeting space provided). 

They've also announced the Annual PAYPA Hui and Awards weekend will be held in Christchurch on 7-9 November, and trialing the re-establishment of the Student Performing Arts Ambassadors programme in Wellington - with the desire to form a community of Performing Arts advocates who experience live theatre together each month, with access to mentorship and professional development opportunities, including theatre review writing with Theatreview and workshops with Te Herenga Waka’s Theatre and Performance Studies lecturers.

PAYPA's Dr Kerryn Palmer is as strong an advocate for this cause as you'd find in Aotearoa.

"Children and Young People need the arts more than ever in this fast-changing and wild world. There is a multitude of research that shows children’s engagement in the arts contributes to higher levels of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, empathy, and resilience, as well as well-documented accounts that when children are engaged in the arts, they typically achieve higher in literacy and numeracy.

"Through the arts, children learn skills such as leadership, problem-solving, work ethic, time management, and interpersonal skills, not to mention the development of empathy and resilience."