UPSURGE Festival returns for 2022

The popular Upsurge Bay of Islands Arts Festival is back, with a line-up of talented artists and performers from the Bay of Islands and around Aotearoa.

Tickets are now on sale for the eight-day festival, which will showcase a mixture of theatre, dance, music, and writer's events from 18 to 25 September.

Festival directors, theatre producer Caroline Armstrong and her husband, renowned New Zealand playwright Dave Armstrong, are "super excited" at the return of the festival, which was last held in April 2019. The focus for their first Upsurge as directors is to celebrate our wonderful rohe and the talented people of the Far North.

Twenty-two performances will be held in venues around the Bay of Islands, including Kerikeri, Kawakawa, Ōkaihau, Russell, Haruru, Waimate North and Kaikohe.

The council is a supporter of the festival. Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community Board provided it with a $5,128 grant in August. The festival also received $5,000 from the 2021/22 Events Investment Fund. This was carried over to the 2022 event after the 2021 festival was postponed due to COVID restrictions.

Tickets are limited to many of the events, so book early for performances. To buy tickets and browse the Upsurge programme, go to the festival website.