The facts

❚ The festival’s evolution continues with a fresh approach to curating the programme. There are three new curators for 2020. The first to be announced is Sala¯ Lemi Ponifasio, a leading contemporary artist who has worked extensively here but more recently in Europe.

❚ It has three tiers of funding: One-third from box office takings, a third from sponsorship and philanthropy, and a third from funding bodies, such as Creative NZ and Wellington City Council. It has 1000 private donors.

❚ In 2018 the NZ Festival contributed $50.6m in gross output and just over $25m in GDP to the city’s economy. 308,887 people went to 2018 festival shows, including 76,599 ticketed events and 232,288 free events. The additional events come under a new brand within the NZ Festival, Ta¯whiri, a name gifted by Mana Whenua.