We extend our heartfelt thanks to our incredible local artists, the vibrant Whau community, and all those who joined us from across Tāmaki Makaurau and beyond to celebrate the Whau Arts Festival this October. Your participation and creativity transformed this year’s festival into a powerful celebration of community connection, cultural expression and local identity.
Our sincere gratitude goes to the Whau Local Board for their continued investment in the arts and their unwavering support of community-led initiatives. We also wish to acknowledge the Auckland Urban Development Office (AUDO) for their invaluable assistance in facilitating the relocation of our festival, ensuring that the event could continue safely and successfully. Together, we’ve shown what community can achieve when we come together to celebrate art, people, and place!
Photo credit: Dooms Photography | @dooms.photography
Photo credit: Dooms Photography | @dooms.photography
This year’s festival invites you to tune in to the many voices of our community. Together we will reflect on what matters to us, honour stories of the past, celebrate the present, and imagine our emerging futures. Across October, Te Whau will come alive with events, performances, and creative experiences shaped by local artists and communities.
Whau Arts Festival is back this October with an amazing line-up of FREE events, performances, and creative experiences led by local artists and communities. This year, the festival has been relocated to Avondale, with satellite workshops and events taking place across the Whau. See the full festival programme below.
WHAU LOCAL HERO PORTRAIT
As part of the Whau Arts Festival, one outstanding community member will be honoured with a portrait painted by esteemed artist Monica Paterson.
If you know someone residing in the Whau area who deserves recognition for their contributions, we invite you to nominate them for this year’s Whau Local Hero.
Nominations closed Friday 24 October 2025
WHAU POSTCARDS
Joy Martin-Holm is a photographer based in New Lynn. She is an avid urban explorer, regularly traversing the many pathways, waterways, and neighbourhoods that make up the Whau. She finds beauty, whimsy, and wonder in overlooked surfaces, fleeting details, and moments of daily urban life. Capturing the unexpected textures and rhythms of the Whau in images that offer glimpses into the character of the places we call home.
For the Whau Arts Festival, Joy has created a project that invites you to see the familiar with fresh eyes. A selection of six of her photographic observations of the Whau have been printed and scattered throughout the area for you to stumble across, collect, and enjoy.
WHAU ARTS FESTIVAL
Saturday 18 October | Old 3 Guys site
1913 Great North Road Avondale
The Whau Arts Festival has relocated to the old 3 Guys site (Avondale Art Park) on Saturday 18 October with an evening of creativity, connection and community to celebrate the Whau Arts Festival. Bring the whānau along to enjoy the festivities featuring live DJs, art, food, music, performances, workshops and Artist Carboot Sale.
Join us on Saturday 18 October for an evening full of creativity and community spirit. Get ready to discover hidden gems and support more than 20+ local artists & makers taking part in the Artist Car Boot Sale.
You can expect handmade creations, artwork, crafts, mini art displays, pop-up installations, one-of-a-kind finds you won’t see anywhere else including live DJs to set the vibe.
See our incredible line-up of artists on Instagram.
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Ahi Nyx will be weaving her magic with us in the heart of Avondale. Ahi Nyx (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa) is a kairaranga based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Through Ahi Raranga Ltd she leads raranga wānanga, reconnecting people to harakeke and our traditional harvesting practices. Her mahi is grounded in her whakapapa and her kinship with Papatūānuku, weaving natural materials into artworks and gatherings that nurture identity, environment, and community.
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Those who attended the inaugural Whau Arts Festival in 2014 may remember the bright pink Digit! Back by popular demand (ours), Sean brings Digit back to the Whau Arts Festival, this time proudly marking our location along the Whau awa. Fingers crossed it’s not too windy! Sean Kerr lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau, where he is an Associate Professor at Elam School of Fine Arts. Within the broader field of visual arts, his work is distinguished by a sustained engagement with new and emergent technologies, documenting this research predominantly through public exhibitions and publications.
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Experience movement, music, and connection with The PARC Collective – a collaboration of artists dedicated to exploring how we move together in place and community. Embodied artists, somatic practitioners and performance makers Claire O’Neil (MA Dance, Fidget Collective), Clare Luiten (Fluid & Bones), and Rachel Ruckstuhl-Mann (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu, Rangitāne ki Wairau, Whānui Moves) form an ad hoc group called The PARC Collective.
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
HOOPLA is an ultra-local, inter-disciplinary practice carrying out urban research for place advocacy in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The Mapping Te Whau project is part of the work we lead with Whau Wildlink network to share knowledge about the natural environment and connect people and groups working in and around the Whau River Catchment area. Nina’s map continues to be a valuable resource for sharing the stories of the Whau. For the festival, she will experiment with new printing techniques and interactive approaches, creating a playful experience with her map alongside festival participants. More about HOOPLA
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Join us for a hands-on screen printing session with Sur-Collective as part of the Whau Arts Festival! After a quick demonstration of the basics, get hands-on and experience the beautiful art of screen print. No prior experience is required – this session is designed to be practical, playful, and accessible to everyone. Each participant will take home their own printed piece as a reminder of the process, possibilities of screen printing and Whau Arts Festival! You are welcome to bring a light coloured Tee shirt, tote bag, tea towel or piece of fabric to get it printed. *Children must be under adult supervision.
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Join the fun with an epic Fishy Parade brought to you by Christina Houghton, Melissa Laing and Juliette Laird. Celebrate your favourite marine creature and dive into the magic of the Whau awa and Waitematā harbour at the Whau Arts Festival Fishy Parade. We encourage you to get crafty, creative and resourceful, making your puppets from found and recycled materials. Come workshop at New Lynn Community Centre and Blockhouse Bay community Centre or drop into our quick making stand at the Whau Arts Festival from 4 pm on the day!
FREE | Register here
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Life Out West is a participatory photography project by Rachel Shaw that invites Whau residents to document their daily lives using disposable film cameras. The project captures authentic, unfiltered moments of West Auckland life, its grit, beauty, and everyday humanity through the eyes of its people. Rachel will begin the project at Archibald Park with an info booth and sign-up sheet, inviting locals to take part and help create a collective portrait of the community.
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
For the Whau Arts Festival, Amanda Eason will be unleashing her environmental set, where anyone opposing her berm planting feels the full force of her poetic wrath! Alongside Amanda, Titirangi Poets will share their work. Members will read their poetry and reflect on why they remain committed to this “Minority Sport.” An afternoon of words, wit, and wonder.
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Drop by and try your hand at the art of ‘blackout poetry’! This is a type of artistic recycling where an old text is drawn over to create a new poem. Guided by Blackout Poetry Aotearoa, you will be provided with instructions, old books, vivids, and the chance to let your imagination run wild! Blackout poetry can be serious, ironic, silly, political, celebratory or anything in between – there’s basically no rules! And while you’re being all poetic, you can sit down, chill out, and enjoy glimpses of the native flora and fauna Archibald Park has to offer.
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Local Making welcomes you to E-Waste Arcade – a world of open-source making, joyful playing, inquisitive thinking and resourceful living in an interconnected world! Together, we’re building resilient communities of makers – rather than consumers, by fostering creative reuse, repair, upcycling, and other resourceful making practices. Through a series of hands-on workshops with youth at Zeal West Auckland in Henderson, we’ve transformed discarded electronics into a fleet of playable, mobile arcade machines. Welcome to the E-Waste Arcade! http://www.localmaking.org
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Join us for a fun and creative Italian Dough Workshop with Khizran Ashar, where kids can explore their imagination and make beautiful mini creations! After a quick demonstration, get hands-on and learn how to shape flowers, animals, fruit and veggies using colourful dough. Kids will love experimenting with both playdough and Italian dough. One to play with and reuse, and the other to take home once it dries! Each participant will take home their own unique creations as a lovely reminder of the Whau Arts Festival and joy of making art together. No experience needed – this workshop is designed to be engaging, playful, and enjoyable for all ages.
FREE | No registrations required
New location: Avondale Art Park (old 3 Guys site)
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Waka by Twilight has been postponed. We will announce a new date once this has been rescheduled. In the meantime, keep an eye out on upcoming events hosted by Auckland Sea Kayaks.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Charlotte Graham’s Hui Kōrero activation has been postponed. We will announce a new date once this has been rescheduled.
SATELLITE EVENTS
Let go, reset, recharge at this year’s Whau Arts Festival! Join us for an immersive gong sound journey led by two incredible players who will guide you into deep relaxation. Expect the resonance of three large gongs, crystal bowls, thumb piano and other novel sounds designed to quiet the mind and relax the body. The vibrations of the gong help your brain produce theta waves – similar to meditation. All you have to do is get comfy, close your eyes, and let the sound carry you. Perfect for stress reduction, emotional release, creative reset, or simply chilling out.
FREE | Register here
This October you’ll have a chance to encounter the Avondale Racecourse in a new way. Artists Molly Mullen and Becca Wood are transforming local memories, archival gems, and poetic soundscapes into an immersive one-hour audio journey, complete with live performers. From horse racing traditions to its time as a military camp, a hospital in the 1918 pandemic, an early aviation site, and even the stage of the legendary 1981 Polynesian Festival – The Public Stand 2025 will bring the many lives of the racecourse to life in ways you’ve never experienced before.
FREE | Register here
Celebrate creativity at the Whau Community Art Expo as part of the Whau Arts Festival 2025 this October! This free exhibition showcases incredible artworks by talented local artists reflecting the diversity, stories and creative spirit of our Whau community. Explore stunning visual art by over 80 local artists – artworks will be available for purchase
Come along, be inspired, and feel the creative heartbeat of the Whau!
FREE | See more here
In collaboration with the opening of the Whau Community Art Expo, the world’s biggest LIVE painting competition is coming to the New Lynn Community Centre as part of the Whau Arts Festival 2025!
• 12 artists, 3 rounds and YOU decide the winner!
• 100% of art sales go directly to the artists
Don’t miss this exciting celebration of creativity and culture, where art comes alive before your eyes!
FREE | Register here
Mal Lakatani Live at Avondale Library!
Join us on Tuesday 21 October, 6-8pm for an intimate evening of live music with the incredible Mal Lakatani, in celebration of Vagahau Niue Week.
Don’t miss this special performance honouring Niuean language, culture and community – a soulful night not to be missed!
FREE | Register here
See you there!
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A special thanks to the Whau Local Board for supporting this mahi and the creative force of the Whau.
