Pacific Dance Festival returns this June with a powerful celebration of contemporary Pacific identity in Aotearoa, bringing together artists from across the Moana in an expanded 2026 programme.
Returning to South Auckland, the cultural heart of the Pacific diaspora, the festival finds home in the Māngere Arts Centre - Ngā Tohu o Uenuku, Te Oro Music and Arts Centre in Glen Innes and Toi Tū - Studio One Toi Tū in Auckland Central.
Festival Director Iosefa Enari MNZM says: “Pacific Dance Festival 2026 is a declaration of who we are now - a diverse, global, future-focused Pacific. Our artists are innovators, storytellers and cultural leaders. This year we honour the full Moana, from Micronesia to Polynesia, and we do it from South Auckland - the home of Pacific creativity.”
The 2026 programme brings together artists from Wallis & Futuna (ʻUvea), Kiribati, Rotuma, Samoa, Aotearoa, and the Indigenous Pacific diaspora of Te Whanganui-a-Tara. The festival spans traditional, contemporary and street-based practice, showcasing established, emerging, and youth voices.
Festival highlights:
CALL TO WALLIS - Justin Haiu
5 - 6 June | Māngere Arts Centre
A powerful contemporary work honouring ʻUvean identity and ancestral memory.
MOANA SHOWCASE
9 June | Māngere Arts Centre
Aotearoa’s leading dance institutions present new Pacific works.
TRIPLE BILL: Kamataga × In the Fale × Vignette of the Frigate
11 June | Māngere Arts Centre
Three contemporary works exploring identity, beginnings, Melanesian womanhood, and Pacific migration.
MAREWEN KIRIBATI YOUTH GROUP - Full Show
2 June | Māngere Arts Centre
A vibrant celebration of Kiribati culture and youth leadership.
SHIFTING CENTRE - THE CIRCLE
15 - 16 June | Māngere Arts Centre
Explosive contemporary dance from Wellington’s Indigenous collective.
SAMOAN LANGUAGE WEEK WORKSHOPS
Early June | Toi Tū & Te Oro
Community movement workshops celebrating Gagana Samoa.