A new city-wide festival celebrating Dunedin’s rich heritage and evolving cultural identity will launch in 2027.
The Foundations: Festival of Dunedin’s Past, Present and Future programme, a collaboration between the Southern Heritage Trust and the Dunedin City Council, will replace the Heritage Festival.
The Foundations Festival will bring together history, creativity, food, music and community, honouring the stories that have shaped Dunedin while exploring how they continue to influence the city today and into the future.
The Southern Heritage Trust in a statement said the new festival represented a major step forward in how Dunedin’s outstanding heritage was shared and celebrated.
"We are delighted to partner with the council on this ground-breaking new festival we know will build on Dunedin’s rightful place as heritage capital of New Zealand," trust chairwoman Joy Baker said.
"We have seen what other cities in Aotearoa have done with events around their own built heritage and architecture, however, we have the assets and the ambition to create a distinctly Dunedin heritage festival that can become a national and international drawcard.
"Dunedin’s heritage has fans throughout New Zealand and the world," she said.
Ms Baker said running the festival in recent years had become time-consuming and was run by a core group of hard-working volunteers, often on the "smell of an oily rag".
"The festival’s new vision and increased support by the council is fantastic news and the event will be a great asset to our city and the annual events calendar."
The festival is being developed in close collaboration with Enterprise Dunedin, the council’s economic development and destination agency, with a strong focus on long-term sustainability, accessibility and community involvement.
Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker is excited about the possibilities presented by the partnership.
"The creation of this festival is an important element of our festival and events plan — aimed at ensuring Dunedin is a vibrant, year-round events destination with a strong focus on community wellbeing and diversity, while also boosting the local economy," she said.
"My expectation is that a heritage festival will attract significant visitor numbers in the offseason during April to October and will grow to be a marquee national event fitting to the Heritage Capital of New Zealand.
"The Southern Heritage Trust has for many years run an informative and enjoyable heritage programme.
‘We are excited to incorporate and develop the Heritage Festival kaupapa within this new event." — Allied Media
