It's been a tough year for festivals - but central Wellington is set to explode with the best music, art, food and circus acts on the market, thanks to the Capital's coolest street festival.
CubaDupa has had a challenging few years - in 2019 the entire festival was moved off the street as a precaution following the Christchurch terror attack, and the COVID-19 lockdown caused 2020's festival to be canned entirely. But in 2021, it's back and according to organiser Gerry Paul, it's going to be better than ever.
"CubaDupa 2021 will be just the tonic we all need," he says.
"The streets will be alive with surprises around every corner and our most ambitious, most creative and most diverse programme ever."
The street festival will take over the Cuba St Precinct from the 27-28 March, setting the central city alight with culture. Hundreds of performances from more than 1700 artists will entertain a crowd of 100,000.
Roaming performance artists will entertain the wandering crowd, as massive parades and music installations ring through the city.
Paul told Newshub the free festival celebrates "the epic creativity" flooding through Aotearoa and Wellington.
One of the acts through which this creativity flows is Colossal - a production company specialising in circus arts.
This year, Colossal will return to CubaDupa with it's specially designed Mammoth tent - providing a unique indoor element to an outdoor street festival.
Seating 150 people, the tent will house a slew of incredible performances.
Creative Director Zane Jarvie told Newshub by day the tent will showcase circus arts, comedy and everything in between - and by night saucy cabaret shows will take over.
"Get in and get in line for a chance to see what's happening inside!"
There's something for everyone - and Jarvie says the fun doesn't have to end when the festival does. If any of the acts catch your eye, the Circus Hub offers classes for even the most basic of gymnasts.
