Wellington’s CubaDupa hits the streets with a first release line-up for 2022
The Cuba Street Precinct on Pōneke, Wellington is set to come alive with culture and creativity over the last weekend in Summer on March 26 – 27, 2022 as the award-winning festival CubaDupa confirms plans to stage the annual diverse and creative street arts festival this year under the new Covid Protection Framework (Traffic Light System). CubaDupa also announces the first 81 artists included in the 2022 programme as part of its first release and shares information about it’s new site-design, stages and mass music projects that have been commissioned specifically for the iconic street arts festival.
Returning to the streets with a covid-concious festival site-design that allows Vaccine passes to be checked at new entry points to the festival. CubaDupa is proud to have programmed 19 curated hours of entertainment with over 200 acts, across 25 different stages featured in its new 2022 theme-park styled event that divides sections of the Cuba street precinct into multiple festival zones for audiences to enter and enjoy. Every year CubaDupa debuts a new festival theme, and 2022 is no different with CubaDupa’s new portal theme that directs audiences to “Open” and “Enter The Portal” to CubaDupa this year and explore the out-of-this-world displays of creativity within the festival boundaries.
Festival Director Gerry Paul says: “Our theme is going to be one of the most creative so far. What happens when you get sucked into the CubaDupa portal?Where will you end up? The portal theme allows us to explore creative ways to provide our audience with access from one place to another dimension.”
The festival will be following Ministry of Health/Government advice to ensure a safe festival is delivered. Currently outdoor festivals can operate at Level Orange and Green as long as Vaccine Passes can be checked, and all performers, staff and suppliers are fully vaccinated.
Chief Executive of Creative Capital Arts Trust and CubaDupa founder Drew James says: “With the huge attendance at CubaDupa 2021, it is clear that Wellingtonians and visitors need us to provide them with a beautiful disruption of arts and culture in the heart of Wellington. Our extraordinary team have not only programmed a brilliant, creative and diverse line-up, but are also up for the challenge of totally re-designing the festival site to ensure that we are able to meet Government guidelines and keep everyone safe. We want to do everything we can to deliver CubaDupa to support the hundreds of artists and businesses that depend on us, and bring colour and joy to our audiences.”
CubaDupa engages thousands of artists from across Aotearoa and showcases its world-class talent with artists such as Wellingtonian turned USA indie music sensation Fazerdaze, Multi-Pacific Music Award Nominated soul singer Lou’ana, Heavy Psych Rock duo Earth Tongue featuring Guitarist Gussie Larkin of Mermaidens to Summer festival favorites Yurt Party who bring their trademark balkan beats to the festival lineup this year. Other highlights of our first release announcement also include Aotearoa Music Award Winning band Na Noise, 80’s inspired indie rock band Daffodils, Pasifika surf rock newcomers LEOA, hip-hop headliner PollyHill and many more!
Festival Coordinator Bianca Bailey says:“We are incredibly proud to announce such a strong, creative and uniquely Aotearoa programme. Our mana wahine, pasifika and gender diverse collectives are leading the way in our first artist launch of the 2022 programme and we’re grateful for the opportunity to tautoku their mahi over this mammoth event.”
High-flying and internationally renowned circus and street performance companies Colossal bring their Mammoth big-top tent to Ghuznee Street’s car park and convert the area into a cabaret and circus hub, perfect for the Whānau during the day with more daring acts in the evening for audiences after something more breathtaking. Auckland circus company The Dust Palace also joins the CubaDupa programme this year with a thrilling array of multi-disciplinary circus projects for audiences to ogle in awe during the festival including futuristic hoverboards, stilt walking mythical beasts and even a whip cracking acrobatic routine.
The CubaDupa Ngā Toi Māori stage produly returns for a second year running and has expanded to feature multiple performance zones on either side of Te Aro Park at the mouth of the festival. Audiences can look forward to Aotearoa bands and artists such as The Gallery, IA and Silver Scroll nominated duo Aro taking the stage atTe Aro park and even the likes of a Bob Marley Tribute Concert performed in Te Reo Māori.
Cornerstone to CubaDupa are its mass musical projects and 2022’s festival programme is no different, boasting some radical and exciting mass participation spectaculars for audiences to revel in. Award-winning composer and musician Riki Gooch (Ngāti Wai/Patuharakeke/Ngāti Māhanga Houra) of Trinity Roots has been commissioned to create a new composition of music for CubaDupa called Te Hou Nui which see’s over 200 local musicians collaborate across multiple stages and zones. The kaupapa around this piece is inspired by traditional Māori ‘smoke signals’ and is an exciting modern opportunity for different cultural communities to intersect, connect and perform alongside each other.
Joining the mass music projects for 2022 is CubaDupa’s very own New Orleans style Street Kings Brass Battle supported by the US Embassy, which see’s an all-star line up of Aotearoa second-line brass bands duke it out in a series of heats on Saturday afternoon. MC’d by Imon Star of Black Pacific, audiences can enjoy, cheer and hype each band as they take turns on dueling stages with thundering horns and fierce trumpets to see who will be crowned the grand champion this CubaDupa.
And living up to it’s festival theme, audiences can expect to encounter something larger than life once they’ve stepped through the CubaDupa portal as this year features a collection of Giant Puppet Creations, called Ko Tātou Te Awa (We Are The River) which will be dotted throughout the festival and will eventually culminate in a performance together that will scrape the skys of the concrete jungle. Truly a sight to behold.
Reimagining what classical music can do in a modern street festival environment, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra join the CubaDupa programme and will be showcasing an electrically charged and transcendently powerful 30 minute experience of joyous disruption by presenting American composer John Adams’ famous piece Shaker Loops. And In a similar vein Wellington Opera drum up a modern outdoor operatic experience for the palette in Hannah’s Courtyard with a lively theatrical concert series inspired by the world of hospitality, featuring reimagined takes on well-known repertoire and a helping of musical theatre tunes to round out the operatic tasting board.
New to CubaDupa this year is the Holy Roller, a custom fitted bus turned stage which will be parked on Marion Street during the festival and will host an array of wildly creative experiences from silly street Olympics (tug-o-war, egg and spoon races etc.), Dance battles housed in a pop-up boxing ring, speed dating, play weddings, and late night drag shows and a DJ booth party.
Saturday nights programme ends with an upbeat mass musical brass project led by the esteemed Pōneke musician and composer Daniel Hayles who brings together seven different brass bands from across Wellington as the Cuba Street Second Line Orchestra on the Ngā Taniwha Stage in Swan Lane with a bespoke arrangement by Hayles to end the evening on a high note.
Drew James continues “It’s a huge logistical challenge to keep CubaDupa on the streets of Wellington, and we are working hard with Wellington City Council, Central Government, our Funders and Sponsors, and our Cuba Street Community to make sure it will be safe and fun for everyone.”
Prepare to Open The Portal to CubaDupa by visiting www.cubadupa.co.nz and registering your details on the home page to be the first to know how you can access the festival. More information on artists, special projects, line-up, schedule and the full festival format will be announced in the following month in the lead up to CubaDupa 26 – 27 March, 2022.
Photo Credit: Oliver Crawford
