CubaDupa is New Zealand's largest outdoor arts and music festival and celebrates the unique character of Cuba Street, Wellington. It attracts up to 100,000 people. The festival is managed and produced by the non-profit Creative Capital Arts Trust and held each year over a weekend in late March, the festival comprises a dozen music stages, parade groups, street theatre performances, visual art installations, and food and beverage vendors. Some central city streets are closed with Cuba Street in the centre, creating a large pedestrian festival zone. Many artists participate in the programme and CubaDupa includes acts from all over the world.
History
CubaDupa is a revival of the Cuba Street Carnival which ran from 1998- 2009. CubaDupa was founded in 2015 from a vision between the newly formed Creative Capital Arts Trust and the Wellington City Council. Drew James was the Artistic Director from 2015 - 2019. In 2020 Gerry Paul was the festival director, and Drew James remained as a creative consultant. The Creative Capital Arts Trust is also the umbrella for the New Zealand Fringe Festival.
Festivals
Some of the events of the 2015 festival were 100 Brazilian samba drummers hosted by Wellington Batucada and The Grand Opening tours of the Opera House produced by Barbarian Productions as well as stages with bands. The new brand for CubaDupa was a finalist in the 2015 Designers Institute of New Zealand, Best Design Awards in the Small Brand Identity category. In 2017 the CubaDupa festival was reported as having 250 events from Samba performances, opera, dance, steampunks, and virtual reality tours and 90 street food stalls. The 2019 programme included Cha Wa from New Orleans, Alien Weaponry and New Zealand dance companyTouch Compass. The programme and locations were changed to create a more security-focused event after the Christchurch Terror Attacks just prior on the 15 March. The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand forced the cancellation of the 2020 festival with the desion made very close to the event. There were 1500 artists and 450 performances lined up. A live streaming event occurred on Saturday 18 April.
