Manukau Festival of Arts 08

Thousands of people from across Manukau and throughout the Auckland region have been entertained and enriched by the inaugural Manukau Festival of the Arts - an initiative from the team at Tomorrow's Manukau.

The festival was instigated by the Vibrant and Strong Communities Outcome Group of Tomorrow’s Manukau, which believed there was an opportunity to build an iconic arts event for Manukau, based around one of the city’s strengths – its cultural diversity.

Crowd numbers exceeded expectations, and the festival achieved its primary aim: to celebrate pride in Manukau through its creative strengths and promote creative excellence and innovation that is unique to Manukau.

Held over 19 days from late October to mid November, the festival featured 31 events - featuring visual art, dance, music, film, literature and theatre - across 15 venues throughout Manukau.

The festival was driven by Manukau Arts and Manukau City Council’s events team, supported by a project team comprising people working in the arts across the city.

Recognising the festival’s potential to draw local, national and international visitors and its role in developing a viable arts industry in the city, Manukau City Council agreed to support the festival as an annual event. Planning is well under way for the 2009 Festival of Arts, which has been extended to run over four weeks so that a number of proposed new events can be included.

The Manukau Festival of Arts was established to showcase the talent of Manukau artists, and will continue to promote and develop creative excellence and innovation that is unique to Manukau.

More details about this year’s Festival will be available soon.