The Pacific Dance Festival 2026 is returning with its most ambitious, future‑focused programme yet — a vibrant celebration of Pacific creativity that spans Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. This year’s festival arrives at a moment when “the world feels fractured and uncertain, yet Pacific creativity continues to offer connection, identity, and hope.”

Rooted in South Auckland and reaching across Aotearoa, the 2026 season reimagines what a Pacific arts festival can be: contemporary, ambitious, unapologetically pan‑Moana, and deeply grounded in the communities who shape the cultural identity of modern New Zealand.

Honouring the Full Moana

This year’s lineup brings together artists from Wallis & Futuna (ʻUvea), Kiribati, Rotuma, Samoa, Aotearoa, and the Indigenous Pacific diaspora of Te Whanganui‑a‑Tara. This breadth is intentional — a recognition that Pacific identity in Aotearoa is “not singular, but a constellation of cultures, languages, and histories.”

The festival’s new visual identity, created by Ōtara designer Jesse Gibson (CocoShakim), reflects this evolution through a contemporary, futurist design language that anchors the season.

Festival Director Iosefa Enari MNZM describes the 2026 programme as:

“A declaration of who we are now — a diverse, global, future‑focused Pacific… We honour the full Moana, from Micronesia to Polynesia, and we do it from South Auckland — the home of Pacific creativity.”

Photo credit: Marewen Kiribati Youth

Where the Festival Lives

The festival returns to its home in South Auckland, expanding across:

• Māngere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku

• Toi Tū (Auckland City)

• Te Oro (Glen Innes)

• Turner Centre Kerikeri, for a special Matariki season performance

This expansion signals a decisive shift for Pacific Dance NZ — elevating smaller island nations often left out of mainstream narratives, championing emerging Indigenous voices, and positioning Pacific dance as a site of innovation, cultural leadership, and future‑building.

2026 Festival Highlights

CALL TO WALLIS — Justin Haiu

5–6 June | Māngere Arts Centre

A powerful contemporary work honouring ʻUvean identity and ancestral memory.

MOANA SHOWCASE

9 June | Māngere Arts Centre

Aotearoa’s leading dance institutions present new Pacific works.

TRIPLE BILL: Kamataga × In the Fale × Vignette of the Frigate

11 June | Māngere Arts Centre

Three contemporary works exploring identity, beginnings, Melanesian womanhood, and Pacific migration.

MAREWEN KIRIBATI YOUTH GROUP — Full Show

12 June | Māngere Arts Centre

A vibrant celebration of Kiribati culture and youth leadership.

SHIFTING CENTRE — THE CIRCLE

15–16 June | Māngere Arts Centre

Explosive contemporary dance from Wellington’s Indigenous collective.

SAMOAN LANGUAGE WEEK WORKSHOPS

Early June | Toi Tū & Te Oro

Community movement workshops celebrating Gagana Samoa.

MATARIKI PERFORMANCE — CALL TO WALLIS

12 July | Kerikeri

A special Matariki season performance in Te Tai Tokerau, honouring ʻUvean identity and celebrating Pacific Dance NZ’s long‑standing relationship with Northland communities. This performance ensures the festival is enjoyed by our wider Aotearoa community and marks Matariki with connection, remembrance, and renewal.

A Call to Aotearoa

In a global moment marked by division and uncertainty, the Pacific Dance Festival offers something rare — “a space of connection, joy, identity, and cultural pride.”

These works remind us of who we are, what we carry, and how movement can bring communities together across generations and islands.

Gather your friends, bring your whānau, and be part of a festival that reflects the future of Aotearoa — bold, diverse, and proudly Pacific.