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CubaDupa is New Zealand's largest outdoor arts and music festival, celebrating the unique character of Cuba Street, Wellington. It attracts up to 100,000 people.
The festival is managed and produced by the non-profit Creative Capital Arts Trust. It is held each year over a weekend in late March. The festival features a dozen music stages, parade groups, street theatre performances, visual art installations, and food and beverage vendors. Some central city streets are closed with Cuba Street in the centre, creating a large pedestrian festival zone. Many artists participate in the CubaDupa programme, including acts from all over the world.
Some of the events of the 2015 festival were 100 Brazilian samba drummers hosted by Wellington Batucada and ''The Grand Opening'' tours of the
History
CubaDupa is a revival of the Cuba Street Carnival which was created and run by Martin Wilson through the 1980s and nineties. and two additional privately run Carnivals were staged in 1991 and 1993 Chris Morley Hall re-launched the carnival from 1998- 2009. CubaDupa was founded in 2015 from a vision between the newly formed Creative Capital Arts Trust and the Wellington City Council. Drew James was the Artistic Director from 2015 - 2019. In 2020 Gerry Paul was the festival director, and Drew James remained as a creative consultant. The Creative Capital Arts Trust is also the umbrella for the New Zealand Fringe Festival.Festivals
Some of the events of the 2015 festival were 100 Brazilian samba drummers hosted by Wellington Batucada and ''The Grand Opening'' tours of the Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...
produced by Barbarian Productions as well as stages with bands. The new brand for CubaDupa was a finalist in the 2015 Designers Institute of New Zealand, Best Design Awards in the Small Brand Identity category.
In 2017 the CubaDupa festival was reported as having 250 events from Samba performances, opera, dance, steampunks, and virtual reality tours and 90 street food stalls.
The 2019 programme included Cha Wa from New Orleans, Alien Weaponry and New Zealand dance company Touch Compass. The programme and locations were changed to create a more security-focused event after the Christchurch Terror Attacks just prior on the 15 March.
The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand forced the cancellation of the 2020 festival with the decision made very close to the event. There were 1500 artists and 450 performances lined up. A live streaming event occurred on Saturday 18 April.
References
Festivals in Wellington Arts festivals in New Zealand {{NewZealand-stub