Auckland Live’s free inner-city festival Summer in the Square returns with a veritable feast of music, outdoor movies, kapa haka champions, interactive installations, and the Auckland Pride OurParty celebration.
Activating the green space behind the Auckland Town Hall, Summer in the Square is an urban sanctuary, full of live entertainment to start 2020 in style from 9 January to 9 February with live art and interactive opportunities from a stunning array of local and international talent.
Auckland Live has teamed up with the crème de la crème of Kiwi film and cinema – the New Zealand International Film Festival, Doc Edge Festival, Screenies and Show Me Shorts Film Festival – to offer a stellar programme with Films in the Square on the Auckland Live Digital Stage until 9 February, creating a free outdoor cinema right in the heart of town.
Programming on the Digital Stage creates a new outdoor venue for summer. Thursdays will become the new movie night for film buffs with a selection of festival favourites playing at 7pm, including Hunt For The Wilderpeople, My Neighbor Totoro, and Poi E. Sundays are reserved for a collection of brilliant documentaries plus three very special family-friendly movies in January.
Back with another round of summer offerings for the fifth year, Matthew Crawley has brought together an eclectic range of free musical performances in the Square. The sensational line-up over the summer months has something for everyone with more than 40 acts, including electro-popstar APOSTILLE all the way from Glasgow, a special group sing-a-long with All Together Now!, and a showcase from Girls Rock Camp to name but a few. Folk aficionado Finn McLenan-Elliott has curated a programme of folky delights from 16 to 19 January, featuring the talents of Fables, Paper Cranes, and Donna Dean among others.
One of Melbourne’s most exciting creatives, dynamic Joseph O’Farrell (JOF) crosses the Tasman this summer to introduce 10 Minute Dance Parties to Auckland for the first time! Open daily from 17 to 27 January (except Monday 20), all ages and all moves are welcome in this succinct mini-rave in a converted shipping container complete with strobe lighting and haze, with tickets available on the door for just $5. The whole whānau is invited to this interactive dance party to celebrate the universal joy of having a boogie and the most fun possible in ten minutes.
Tāmaki Makaurau Kapa Haka Regional Championships take over the Aotea Centre 24 to 25 January, while outside in Aotea Square you can soak up the atmosphere with waiata, kai and free pop-up performances from championship competitors. Tāmaki Makaurau celebrates Auckland’s rainbow community in the CBD as Auckland Pride Festival hosts OurParty on Saturday 8 February in Aotea Square after rainbow communities reclaim the city streets in the energetic, community-centred, OurMarch.
The BOX in the Square Café and Bar at the edge of the grass terraces will be open for all to enjoy a drink and snack to accompany the world-class programming, while the outdoor lounge setting is complete with deck chairs and shade awnings to create the perfect atmosphere all summer long.
Summer in the Square isn’t all that’s going down at Auckland Live this summer: Fringe Town returns in 2020 with another specially curated line-up of unique offerings during the Auckland Fringe including just announced Alien Weaponry as the first act to perform in the festival! Stay tuned for the full Fringe Town line-up to be released on Monday 13 January 2020.
