Book Close
Book
Close Close
I'd like to book a
Join QT Club
Back

Wellington Fringe Festival 2017

words by niall roeder

The citywide grassroots arts and culture festival has once again taken over Wellington.

Every year during February and March, Fringe Festival takes over Wellington. For 25 years the three-week long festival has invited droves of artists from around NZ and the world to the Windy City to create cutting edge art.

This year there are well over 1,100 creatives roaming around town, partaking in over 700 events. From concert venues to galleries, cafes, bars, street corners and John’s gaff down the road, anywhere that can possibly hold an event, will do so.

The open-access festival doesn’t discriminate when it comes to which art forms get the green light, with acts embracing a range of mediums, like busking, cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, film, fashion, improv, music, theatre, podcast, poetry, puppetry, spoken word, and visual art.

Fringe time! 10th Feb – 04 March 2017. #fringefestival #branding #injectdesign #officialdesignpartner #nzfringe

A post shared by Inject Design (@injectdesign) on

Fringe Festival has been an important stepping stone, for now, popular acts like Flight of the Conchords, Fuse Circus, Jo Randerson, Eli Kent, Strike Percussion and Footnote Dance. Only time and a plethora of imaginative and often wacky performances will tell who cracks the big time from the 2017 edition.

We look at three weird and awesome events at this year’s festival… they could be the next big thing to come out of the Fringe.

The Dank Comedy Show
Experimental comedy with “dank” in the title – how could this not be good? When one of the nightly offerings involves comics performing whilst walking a maze of loaded mouse traps, you know you’re on a good thing.

Coastella Ltd
The one-day music festival boasts an eclectic range of indie rock, Americana, folk, Irish, pop, New Orleans swing, hip hop, dreamy pop and electro artists. Try anything once – even if that means listening to the traditional Irish arrangements of the Seamus Begley Trio.

Vivid Wgtn
These guys are a big proponent of street art in Wellington. They’re all about empowering up and coming street artists and helping them hone their skills.

If you‘re staring at this article with a gormless look upon your Chevy Chase, thinking, “I still don’t get what it is”. No explaining will help you – do what event organisers recommend and just get out there in the Fringe.

Check out the full program HERE.

New Zealand Fringe Festival runs from February 10 – March 4.


QT Social

Feeling a little social? Follow QT Follow QT
Powered by PGR

We hate to play favourites, but some of our guests are lavished with even more special attention than usual. Want to know what you’re missing out on?

Join The QT Club right now – we’ll keep it just between us.

Enter your details