How To CubaDupa

CubaDupa is beautiful disruption that spans the entire Cuba precinct in Wellington; presenting over 19 hours of curated entertainment with over 500 performances across 46 stages and creative zones

To help you plan your adventure we have a number of factual resources to help you:

  • Need to know how to get here? Check out our Getting Here page.
  • Got questions? Check out the FAQS
  • Want a map? Check out our Maps page, or for an audio visual guide, go to our Accessibility Page.
  • Need that personalised schedule? Check that Schedule Page
  • Need costume inspo? Check out our Hosts of Beautiful Disruption!
  • Want the A-Z of whats hot and how to fill your boots on the weekend, that ultimate guide to unleash your wildside? Then keep reading babes!

The A to Z of CubaDupa

A –  Aotearoa’s most creative and diverse street festival! An awe inspiring 19+ hours of curated entertainment across 46 stages and creative zones, delivering 500+ performances and 20 parades with over 1750 artists. Simply amazing! 

B –  Bring your besties and boogie to the bonkers big bad bass at Breaking Beats car park rave at Toi Poneke. 

C – Channel your inner CubaDupa at CubaSonic, the mass music sonic disruption. Composed by world-renowned New Zealand tunesmith, John Psathas and played by over 300 musicians, amplified by 50 overhead speakers and featuring Chime Red, the tesla coil. Yes you read that correctly!

D – Dress up and Dance until you drop! Get down, dirty and disappear into the doof with DJs Ludus, Panda, Feral and Vesika. Dress up, don the dancing shoes and follow the drums to the Batucada dancers. Dive into the past with the  nostalgic Le Dance then dip into futuristic grooves and moves with Shut up and Dance.

E – Energize with some exotic Kai! Pop into El Barrio, El Matador, Eva Beva. Eat right so you can keep dancing all festival long. 

F – Feeling thirsty friends? Fortune Favours ought to be your first fling of the night! We are fizzing to have teamed up with the fantastic Fortune Favours to create Luckies CubaDupa Seltzer! A flamboyant passionfruit, pineapple and mango flavour, made from a beer base, with no nasties! Frothing Fruity reFreshment.

G –  Gracing us with their groovy sounds this year we are grateful for Garage Project’s Wild Workshop stage. It’s Girl Power galore as this stage is all female fronted. Sneak Peak: Ida Lune, Wiri Donna, Linen and a great deal more.

H – HQ for unconventional experiences? Havana Shamblelands! We are head-over-heels about the Cuba Chapel; get married or have yourself a faux funeral. Hot to Trot At Ping Pong? Hang out with the The Ping Pong Party People and have a hit! Humours habiliments highly recommended!

I – I spy with my little eye… The iconic Imugi igniting the afternoon (thanks Asia New Zealand Foundation) and  incredible Intergalactic tape art invites passers-by to check out inventive up-cycled realness.

J – Join the beautiful disruption! Jump with New Zealand’s own Crown Jewel: JessB! Jam out to Jack Hackett’s Capital Blues Oasis for a true Blues experience. Jive on down for some participatory ‘Learn to Boogie to the Blues’ 

K – King-sized fun for the whole whanau is on offer at the Kāpura Circus and Cabaret Zone. Kick back and watch street performances with giant alien junk monsters, dance troupes, magic shows, circus workshops. Featuring free face painting for kids! 

L – Legendary Left Bank is home to the lovable, Hit Me Baby One More Rhyme: Poetry Karaoke! Feeling laid-back over the weekend? Come hang out with some like minded people at Left Bank! Get involved in the poetry yourself or just listen and laugh.

M –  Mind-blowing Massey students have been working meticulously over the last few months creating the Massey Creative Distraction Stage. Mosey on down to move and groove to H4LF CĀST, Chantal Claret, New Telepathics, Molly and the Chromatic’s melodic music!

N – New for CubaDupa is Ngā Toi o Te Aro stage in Te Aro Park. The park will be transformed to showcase Māori artists, te reo and tikanga Māori. Check out numerous noteworthy artists such as Pere Wihongi, Amba Holly, WAI and  King Homeboy; or join one of the many neat and nifty Wānanga.

O – ’Out in the city’ is not to be missed. Our ‘O’ for awesome pals at Wellington Pride Festival are celebrating at the same time as CubaDupa, and we’re overjoyed to announce a co-lab performance of the Purple People Eater Pop Concert.  The partnership is a one-hundred percent guarantee for a full day of LGBTQIA+ celebration in the heart of New Zealand’s capital city. 

P – Plenty of Parades, 20 in fact, are happening this CubaDupa! Popping up seemingly out of nowhere on the street… Keep your eyes peeled for a perplexing Giant Chickens from Garden Friends, Alien Junk Monster, Zombies from the Parade of the Undead, Big Brass Bands and so much more! Come laugh, gasp and cheer. Perfect for everyone!

Q – Quick! Where is this QR Code?! Question: Have you scanned in? QR codes will be placed all over CubaDupa, keep summer unstoppable and queue up to scan that QR code and see the Sani-Squad. We don’t want anyone in quarantine! 

R – Radical beats run rampant at the Radioactive Upper Cuba Soundsphere! Let your raucous rebel loose with acts such as: BTD B*tches, BodyPalooza, Street Trance, {Suite}, Laundry Block Rocker, Shamblelands Footnote New Zealand Dance and here to rave all weekend long. 

S – Sensational saucy samba is taking over the weekend at the Whistling Sisters Samba HQ! Shake those hips, shuffle those feet and samba samba samba baby!  

T – Take time out to tick Troy Kingi and his tantalizing tunes off your bucket list or take a tantalizing trip to Tiny Town, the world’s smallest theatre, seating only 5 at a time… now that’s tiny.

U – Ultra-lucky is what we are to be able to have events here in Wellington! Use hand sanitizer, use sunscreen. Unite with friends and family for an uplifting weekend and an unbelievable amount of fun!

V – Vibrant Visual Arts with Pip Adam, Mary Jane Duffy, Mark Amery and Pip Hall for a roving discussion series with artists, art curators and writers up and downstairs to the galleries of Cuba Street’s art tastemakers. An experience where everyone feels like a VIP.

W – Whoa, Stop – have you heard about the Wellington Airport Ngā Taniwha stage? Wonder at the beautiful stage art by Wahine Toa Xoe Hall, Gina Kiel and Miriama Grace Smith and welcome in the weekend highlight acts feat. Wellington Batucada, WITCH Music Theatre, Troy Kingi, JessB, Richter City Rebels and a whole lot more.

X –  Speaking of the X factor, meet our extravagant xenial hosts: The Purple People Eater, The Show Pony, The Bombay Bombshell and The Colossal Spaceman. We’re excited for you to see them doing their thing over the weekend. Xoxo – CubaDupa.

Y – No need to travel yonder, local youthful talent is in abundance this Festival. Young-guns Fruit Juice Parade is a two piece originally from Palmerston North but now based in Wellington. Their EP ‘the more you don’t know the less you know’ explores that particular angst of being a teenager in a smallish town. You need to check it out! 

Z –  Zealous creatives are ready to share their zany humour with you this March 27th and 28th. Zen out because the entire weekend’s schedule is now live! So go and pencil in all the acts you can’t miss and get ready to reset your frequency and join the Beautiful Disruption.