Be Extraordinary at CubaDupa 2018

Be Extraordinary at CubaDupa 2018

New Zealand’s largest immersive outdoor arts festival, CubaDupa, returns in 2018 with more international performances than ever before along with our stunning local line-up, for its two-day extravaganza of music, dance, theatre and visual arts.

Wellington’s iconic Cuba Quarter will come to life on March 24 and 25, 2018 when lines become blurred between audience and performer during the free street festival that will fill the capital with a vibrant atmosphere and display of human creativity.

Artistic Director, Drew James, says CubaDupa is uniquely Wellington and fast-becoming one of the most extraordinary events in New Zealand.
“The CubaDupa experience invades your senses: sight and sound, aroma and taste. You become immersed in a journey through Cuba Street, side-streets, back alleyways, and courtyards, where you will discover everything from opera to parades, music and visual installations.
“It has become a celebration of the street, reaching out to artists from Wellington, around New Zealand and internationally that contribute to the two-day explosion of creative spirit.

“The blurring of the line between audience, performer, stage and street, is even more evident for 2018, with a call-out for everyone to dress in extravagant costume, and dance with some of the world’s greatest street bands.”  

New Orleans’ legends Free Agents Brass Band are among the highlights for the 2018 programme bringing with them their surprising mix of traditional New Orleans jazz alongside old school R&B, hip hop, gospel, reggae and afro beat. Coming all the way from Toronto is Lemon Bucket Orkestra, a Canadian band of mismatched guerrilla-folk party-punks. Representing the UK is energetic folk duo Old Time Rags who promise loud horns, kazoos, banjos and even a broom dance.

Spanish masters of costume, Les Tambours de Feu (Drums of Fire) will be putting on a spectacular show with drums, pyrotechnics and special effects. Melbourne performers Born in a Taxi will get the audience to partake in their street theatre performance, Curious Game, while the New Zealand Opera will fill the Cuba Quarter with a street opera performance of The Eagle Has Landed. New Zealand’s very own Tape Art pioneers will be creating live street art and other Kiwi performers include the jazz afro-beats of Khufus Ethiopiques and hip hop big band RAW Collective.

Children will be encouraged to be free and express themselves at the family entertainment zone, Urban Garden. Create carnival costumes and junk instruments before joining the DIY street parade. At night the garden blooms will be lit up and video mapped for special evening soirees for all ages.

Attendees can take a world food tour without leaving the Cuba Quarter as they sample street eats from the myriad of multicultural eateries along Cuba Street, as part of the Moore Wilson’s Street Food Festival.
“Logan Brown is set to once again team up with the Cuba Street Fruit Mart, dishing out their famous paua fritters, while the team at El Matador will be serving their mouth watering assador spit-roasted lamb in true Argentinean style,” James says.

Craft beer and cocktails will be on hand as Laundry, Southern Cross Carnival Bar, Fidel’s, Rogue & Vagabond and other well-known watering holes spill out onto the streets into outdoor licensed areas.  

The festival is run by a small dedicated team at the Creative Capital Arts Trust, supported by WREDA, Wellington Regional Amenities Fund, Wellington Community Trust and a number of other local sponsors including The Wellington Company, Te Auaha, Wellington International Airport, Mediaworks and Cato Brand Partners.

Find out more about the 2018 CubaDupa programme at cubadupa.co.nz

CUBADUPA 2018 FIRST RELEASE HIGHLIGHT ACTS
November 2017
www.cubadupa.co.nz

The Drums of Fire - Les Tambours de Feu
Spain

Aker the devil of the witches’ coven is wandering the streets. He and his retinue of percussionists travel through villages and towns.The rhythm of drums and fireworks bounce off the walls. The multicolored sparks and the sound of instruments, perfectly synchronized, make appear a fantastic show. The percussions answer to the fire, such pagan rituals came from ancient times. The drums vibrate, streets are illuminated and the devil passes.This show mixes with finesse, music, pyrotechnics and special effects, throughout an urban route.

The Curious Game
Melbourne

A show like no other, where the world of fairytales and board games collide and the audience….. become the show. With the pomp and ceremony of ridiculous rituals and eccentric dance, characters from an over-sized chessboard come to life. A bossy Queen, a stupid knight and a pawn with a touch of cunning, conduct an interactive, absurd and humorous game for all ages.Commissioned by The Arts Centre Melbourne, The Curious Game has delighted audiences from New Zealand to South Korea utilising Born in a Taxi's signature performance style incorporating physical theatre, ensemble dance, clowning and audience participation.

Free Agents Brass Band
New Orleans

The Free Agents Brass band is a New Orleans based brass band, that started in Atlanta Georgia in 2005. It was formed by Ellis Joseph, and at the time was comprised of displaced musicians due to Hurricane Katrina hint the term " Free Agents." The musicians then were all members of other bands, however due to the hurricane they were jobless. They began playing around the Atlanta area to ease the pain of losing everything, and to express their love and heartbreak of not being in New Orleans. The blend of old school r&b, hip hop, gospel, reggae, afro beat and traditional New Orleans music is what has carried the band thus far. Weekend and week out the band can be found playing around New Orleans whether it be a wedding, a funeral or second line’s, etc.

Tape Art NZ
Wellington

'Celestia Zealantis' is a street art installation by tape art pioneers Struan Ashby & Erica Duthie (Tape Art NZ) who will transform a section of Ghuznee St into a playful star chart. Armed with drawing tape and a pocketful of stars, the artists will tape together a kiwi-centric night sky. 12 Welllingtonian poets were invited to inspire and name new antipodean constellations. Festival goers will be invited to walk amidst this original antipodean star scape and talk to the artists as they draw.

Lemon Bucket Orkestra
Toronto

Lemon Bucket Orkestra is a guerilla-punk-balkan-folk-brass band massive like no other. Tracing their genesis back to the streets of Toronto, the original quartet of busking troubadours quickly amassed a battalion of like-minded musical souls and the full-blown, dozen plus strong Orkestra was born. Equal parts exhilarating precision and reckless abandon, LBOs live shows are a truly immersive experience that ranges from the ecstatic to the cathartic. Each song is spiked with the unique blend of punk, funk, psychedelia and swing that give the group its one of a kind sound. As at home in a back alley speakeasy as an ornate concert hall, the Lemon Bucket Orkestra has stormed the international scene with their irresistible brass band mayhem.

The Eagle Has Landed, presented by New Zealand Opera
Wellington

It’s 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are about to be the first people to set foot on the moon – or are they? What if these Apollo astronauts discovered a group of stranded characters from a Jules Verne's novel had arrived before them? With music by Anthony Richie, words by Stuart Hoar, and performers from NZ Opera, this street opera will transport audiences to an encounter that is truly out of this world!

The Old Time Rags
UK

The Old Time Rags are a duo who use folk music and dance to create an interactive and energetic street show featuring Appalachian step dance, broom dancing, banjos and the daring accordion balance of doom. They have wowed audiences across the UK bringing their show to Glastonbury, Sidmouth Folk Week and Edinburgh Fringe.

Jazzfirefly presents Khufus Ethiopiques
Wellington

Jazzfirefly presents Khufus Ethiopiques and Afrobeat. Playing sounds inspired by Ethiopiques Jazz and Afro-grooves. Khufus Ethiopiques features reknowned jazz maestro Lucien Johnson on sax and keys, Justin Firefly Clarke on wah guitar, Michael Costeloe on trumpet, Tristan Carter on violin, Myele Manzanza on drumkit, Ben Lemi Wood on various instruments and Ghanaian percussion master, Ato on added rhythms."The Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BC."

URBAN GARDEN
Wellington

An Urban Garden Oasis made for fun. During the day a place of manic mayhem in the creation of Carnival Costumes and Junk Instruments in the lead up to our D-i-y Parade around the streets at 4.30pm. All are invited to come and make, no matter what age or ability. At night an ambience change as the garden is lit up with Blooms video mapped for special evening soirees. Relax in the pallet seating at any time of day and watch how resources are reused for new and splendid displays or come and join us in the parade where we'll make crazy noise and look wild.

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