The Pacific Dance Festival returns in June with a celebration of contemporary Pacific identity in Aotearoa, bringing together artists from across the Moana in an expanded 2026 programme.
Returning to South Auckland, the festival finds home in the Māngere Arts Centre, Te Oro Music and Arts Centre in Glen Innes, Toi Tū , Studio One Toi Tū in Auckland Central and a special Matariki season presentation in Kerikeri.
The 2026 programme will bring together artists from Wallis & Futuna (Uvea), Kiribati, Rotuma, Samoa, Aotearoa, and the Indigenous Pacific diaspora of Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Across six performance events and workshops, the festival spans traditional, contemporary and street-based practice, showcasing established, emerging, and youth voices.
Festival Director Iosefa Enari MNZM says, “Pacific Dance Festival 2026 is a declaration of who we are now – a diverse, global, future-focused Pacific.
Our artists are innovators, storytellers and cultural leaders. This year we honour the full Moana, from Micronesia to Polynesia, and we do it from South Auckland- the home of Pacific creativity.”
Full programme and bookings: pacificdance.org.nz
