After an electric NZ International Comedy Festival, which drew nearly 70,000 attendees out to enjoy live comedy, organisers knew that Tāmaki Makaurau was thirsty for more!

This year, Music Therapy New Zealand celebrates a significant milestone: 50 years of music therapy practice in Aotearoa. To mark this anniversary there will be a three-day “Looking Back, Moving Forward” event in Wellington, which will begin with an opening celebration on 13 September, followed by a two day conference on 14-15 September 2024. The conference programme includes 48 presentations by over 60 presenters from New Zealand and around the world.

Following its sell-out season earlier this year at the Aotearoa NZ Festival Of The Arts, having played to packed houses all over the country, The Savage Coloniser Show tours to WORD Christchurch Festival in Tusiata Avia’s hometown of Ōtautahi (9 - 13 September) and to Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival (10 October). The production will then make is international debut at the Seoul Performing Arts Festival 2024 (19 - 20 October).

Celebrating 20 years of Tawata Productions, the acclaimed company is taking their unapologetically Indigenous, genre-bending and ground-breaking work Ngā Rorirori on tour, following a successful premiere season in 2022. Melding together contemporary dance, theatre, farcical storytelling and digital recording, this work from Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate 2022 playwright and director Hone Kouka plays in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (12-15 September), Tāmaki Makaurau at Kōanga Festival (19-22 September), Tūranganui-a-Kiwa (25 September) and Ōtautahi at WHAO Festival (04 October).

After eleven incredible years, Sophie Roberts will step down as Silo Theatre’s Artistic Director in June 2025.

The acclaimed World Press Photo Exhibition, a stunning selection of the past year’s best photojournalism and documentary photography from around the world, returns this month from 20 July – 11 August at Smith and Caughey’s.

Award-winning duo and all-time internet legends, Dan and Phil are back with their biggest worldwide tour to date, Terrible Influence - a screamingly hilarious brand-new live stage show. The tour will take in an initial 70+ dates around the globe, starting in September 2024 until February 2025.

From the creators of audience favourites Jekyll & Hyde and Don Juan, the masters of irreverence, A Slightly Isolated Dog, are thrilled to return to Q Theatre with a hilarious and genre-bending immersive production. Our Own Little Mess runs from 24 July – 3 August as part of Q’s MATCHBOX.

Enjoy an outstanding evening of musical excellence from the country’s most renowned combined choir and orchestra, Bach Musica NZ, at the Auckland Town Hall on 15 September, with a presentation of Mendelssohn's popular Symphony No 2 Hymn of Praise, op. 52.

This one-day LIVE writing event offers a stunning opportunity for established and aspiring writers to learn from some of NZ’s most successful writers, on Sunday 21 July at Toi Tu Studio One.

A highly contagious and deadly strain of avian influenza, commonly known as "bird flu," is feared to land in New Zealand for the first time. To cope with this potential outbreak BirdCare Aotearoa needs support.

Join heavily medicated lounge singer Tabitha Booth along with her long-suffering stagehand (not stage-foot) Riley Bell, for an intimate evening of unhinged comedy like no other.

With their powers combined, Auckland Theatre Company and Silo Theatre are sharing an urgent message about our future with the New Zealand premiere of David Finnigan’s Scenes from the Climate Era, playing at Q Theatre Rangatira from 2 – 24 August.

Heading to Northland this July, Laughs on Tour presents some of the funniest comedians in Aotearoa right now at the best two-hour comedy showcase around. This time Whangārei and Kerikeri both get in on the action for two nights of uproarious laughter, with Friday Laughs on 12 July at ONEONESIX in Whangārei and Saturday Laughs on 13 July at Turner Centre in Kerikeri.

Wellington’s premier open mic comedy competition, the Wellington Raw Comedy Quest, is back for 2024 and is set to meet the freshest and bravest new faces of the local comedy scene. The first heat kicks off in the Capital on 27 June at Te Auaha, MC’d by 2019 National winner Courtney Dawson.