An exciting new offering from Auckland Live is about to be born in the shape of We The Young, an arts festival created specifically for young people in Tāmaki Makaurau.

The festival, debuting this year, runs from 16 September to 28 September across Aotea Centre, the Auckland Town Hall, Aotea Square and The Civic. It boasts an impressive lineup that aims to delight all those under 16, as well as their loved ones.

You can expect “high-quality, age-specific creative experiences,” says Rosa Strati, Creative Producer at Auckland Live. We The Young will provide the opportunity for audiences to “experience a festival environment created especially for young people – one where they can buy a ticket to a show but then stumble upon free play activities, roving performers, huge art installations, and outdoor dance floors.”

Introduce your young ones to the arts world

If you’re a creative with children in your life, the festival provides a fabulous opportunity to share the arts world with them in a way that is designed especially for their enjoyment.

That’s been a wonderful part of creating the festival for Strati, who notes, “It has been a beautiful way to integrate my identity as a parent into my mahi and truly involve my daughter in work life.”

Many artists will know it can often be logistically difficult to share their work for children, from later evening programming to venues catering to an older crowd. But We The Young welcomes all tamariki with open arms. Helaina Keeley, Manager, Performing Arts at Auckland Live, is particularly excited about this. She is eager to see “venues and spaces prioritise the experiences of children and young people… It’s going to be both noisy and joyous!”

All age ranges under 16 will be welcomed and catered for. You could check out Cubbin Theatre’s gentle theatre show Up and Away, specifically for babies, or send any aspiring artistic teens along to take part in a Massive Theatre Company workshop. No matter the ages of the special young ones in your life, We The Young includes something for everyone.

Get inspired

For creatives who might be interested in making work for younger audiences, the festival also promises to be a veritable playground for ideas and learnings in this space.

There’s a lot to consider when programming and creating for young people, and the Auckland Live team has worked hard to ensure they’ve taken this into account when constructing the festival.

“There are so many different physical and developmental stages and interests represented across this age spectrum,” says Strati, “each requires care and consideration.”

The result is a very varied range of programming; from theatre and dance shows such as Rutene Spooner’s Pīpī Paopao or Java Dance Theatre’s The Tantrum to interactive art spaces such as Paper Planet, right through to immersive and sensory experiences such as The Imaginarium. And all have been expertly designed to best suit their audiences by artists at the top of their game in this field.

That in turn means there’s plenty to take in and be inspired by. So, if you’ve got even the slightest inkling of an idea, chances are there will be an activity on offer you could check out to get a feel for what it might entail and ways to delight a younger crowd.

Discover the joys of creating for children

There’s absolutely space for those excited about creating in this arena. Generating more art that focuses on young people is something Auckland Live is looking to encourage with We The Young. “Our aspiration is that by putting a stake in the ground to celebrate and prioritise work for these audiences,” says Keeley, “we can materially contribute to strengthening the sector and increase the exposure of our children and young people to incredible, age-appropriate arts and culture experiences.”

The process of creating for the young also comes highly recommended by the team. “Working on a festival for young people has an innate underpinning of fun,” says Strati. “We have lots of serious conversations, but at the end of the day we’re discussing things like ‘how slippery will giant bubbles make a floor?’ and ‘can we cook rocks in a pressure cooker indoors?’”

Get involved

Hearing those delectable conundrums and thinking that sounds like a bit of you? Or already have some children-focused work rearing to go?

Whilst We The Young, like its audience, is very new to the world, Keeley and Strati both hope it will go on to be a regularly programmed event. “Our vision is that We The Young can become an annual festival,” says Strati, “creatives are welcome to email pitches for work.”

Keeley stresses that Auckland Live’s door is always open. “The team here at Auckland Live is part of wider efforts across the mōtu to grow the capacity and opportunities for creators and makers of theatre and arts experiences for young people,” says Keeley. “We programme work for this audience right across the year, so are always interested in building new relationships with artists and creatives working in this space.”

So whether you’re looking to get inspired or have a special outing with the little ones in your life, We The Young is ready to delight and captivate. Organise that playdate now!

This article was created in partnership with Auckland Live, part of Tātaki Auckland Unlimited. 

We The Young runs 16-28 September.