Festival celebrates soul of South Dunedin’s community

Enjoy a vibrant mix of entertainment, sustainability and community spirit as the South Dunedin Street Festival returns. The gathering on Saturday will feature a range of stalls and activities for the whole family.

Magic, music and movement

Attendees can enjoy a varied selection of live performances across three stages.

The dance and multicultural stage will feature a wide range of acts including Swing Riot, Zone One X Fierce Entertainment, Naatya School of Indian Dance, the Black & White Dance Studio and the Dunedin K-Pop Crew.

Live music at the band stage will showcase artists including the Mads Harrop Band, The Shenatics, Soul Deep and Mea Culpa.

At the buskers area, Jay the Juggler, the 2025 Busker Champion, will provide family-friendly magic, comedy and juggling.

A 15-person bucket group from Tahuna Normal Intermediate School will present a lively show of rhythm and sound.

There will also be roving entertainment among the crowds including lion dancers and Queenstown juggler Paul Klaass.

Eco-friendly event

The festival this year continues its sustainability focus as a zero-waste event.

Last year the gathering achieved a 90% diversion rate from landfills. The occasion accumulated a total of 111kg of rubbish, with only about 11kg going to the landfill.

This equates to half a wheelie bin of waste from a crowd of 8000 to 10,000 people.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own reusable food kits such as cups, plates and cutlery.

Food and drink vendors will happily accept these containers.

For those without their own, the event dish library will provide alternatives to reduce single-use serveware.

Make and mend

A repair station will be hosted in the makerspace at the South Dunedin Library, where attendees can bring small appliances, laptops or clothing to be assessed and potentially fixed by experts.

The initiative will be run by Stitch Kitchen for clothing, the Gasworks Museum for appliances and Com2Tech for devices.

Fabulous flavours

A bustling food court will be centred on McBride St, serving an array of tasty treats.

These exciting pop-up stalls will perfectly complement the fantastic cafes, restaurants and takeaway venues already established in South Dunedin.

Festival zones

The festival will feature over 100 stalls sorted into themed zones to cater to a wide array of interests. Community sporting and gaming groups will provide activities with entertainment will including sumo trucks and a mini ride-on train.

The Gasworks Museum will operate a mobile blacksmith forge.

There will be over 30 arts and crafts stalls and other designated areas include a vintage and pre-loved section, a health and wellbeing space, an education area as well as a history and civics zone.

Creative crafts and collectables

Artists, designers and crafts people will display their unique creations in the artisan alley.

A variety of items including crochet crafts, pop culture collectables, 3-D-printed models, fragrances, jewellery and local honey will offer something for every shopper.

Celebrating Community

The occasion will host dozens of community groups representing all backgrounds and lifestyles.

This is your opportunity to connect with neighbours and discover organisations working to support our suburb.

Fantastic free fares

The Otago Regional Council is offering complimentary transit on five bus routes on Saturday.

The free rides apply to these services, in both directions: routes 8 (St Clair-Normanby), 15 (Ridge Runner North and South Bound), 33 (Corstorphine-Caversham-City-Wakari), 44 (St Kilda-City-Halfway Bush) and 55 (St Kilda-City-Helensburgh).