Music News

CubaDupa 2025 Festival Lineup Announced - Vera Ellen, MOKOTRON, Diggy Dupé, The Circling Sun, Dateline + More

Chris Cudby / Photo credit: Maeve O'Connell / Thursday 30th January, 2025 10:21AM

Te Whanganui-a-Tara's annual CubaDupa festival returns for 2025 in vibrantly maximal fashion, revealing today a full-to-the-brim lineup of over 140 acts, presenting over 170 performances all throughout the capital's Cuba Street Quarter district on 29th and 30th March. Entirely free for the whole whānau to enjoy, as fitting tradition CubaDupa's all-ages musical programme will sprawl throughout a hefty variety of inner city venue spaces, spilling out into the streets and local parks with outdoor stages and colourful street activations. Not limited to just music, CubaDupa 2025 will host an inclusive, multi-cultural smorgasbord of arts and cultural offerings — including dance / choreography and performance art — yum kai selections at the FreshChoice Street Feast and so much more, all organised around this year's guiding theme of sparking communal joy.

Along with previously announced special guests Chelsea Jade, Anna Coddington, Black Comet, COLOSSAL and Mass Frevo Orchestra, today's tsunami of new musical additions includes 2024 Taite Music Prize winner and recent support for Crowded House Vera Ellen, 2024 Pacific Music Award winning Arch Hill rapper Diggy Dupé, kapa haka group Hiwa opening CubaDupa in the Mihi Whakatau, indigenous bass revolutionary MOKOTRON, interstellar jazz all-stars The Circling Sun, Bad Taste rapper / DJ Young Gho$t, DJ figureheads BBYFACEKILLA and Caru, indie-rock powerhouses Dateline, Pōneke reggae / roots rising star Casual Healing, Cook Island rap kingpin Brandn Shiraz, and so much more.

Tuck into the full lineup below, plus head over to the official CubaDupa HERE site for the lowdown on every act performing, info on all the venues / stages / creative zones, handy FAQs, and the up to date full festival programme.

"Our mission is to be the leading arts organisation that supports emerging arts as well as sparking communal joy in Pōneke. I’m personally really proud of this incredible lineup. We’ve worked incredibly hard to pay artists their rates and make a pathway for Aotearoa acts to be on our main stages. This year will rock!" - Bianca Bailey, CubaDupa Festival Director

CubaDupa 2025

Saturday 29th March and Sunday 30th March - various venues, Cuba Street Quarter, Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington (free, all-ages)
For the complete CubaDupa 2025 lineup and more, check out the the CubaDupa website: www.cubadupa.co.nz

Music lineup features...
A.R.T, ANNA CODDINGTON, ARAHI, BALKANY, BATTLE-SKA GALACTICA, BAZURKA, BBYFACEKILLA, BIG SUR, BIGDYLZ, BIRDPARTY, BLACK COMET, BODYPALOOZA, BRANDN SHIRAZ, BRI LOUISE, BRYNZILLIAN BIG BAND, BTD B*TCHES, BUNNY HOLIDAY, C-26 SALSA BAND, CALLUM PASSELLS, CAR-A-OKE!, CARU, CASUAL HEALING, CATHERINE GRIFFITHS, CHELSEA JADE, CIRCUS BBQ PARTY, COLLEGE TRY, COLOSSAL, CRASH BANDIHOOT, CRYSTAL CHEN, CUBA STREET BRASS, CUBAN FUSION, DANI JOSIE, DANICA BRYANT, DATELINE, DEBT CLUB, DIGGY DUPÉ, DJ DESKONTROL, DJ DOZEN, DKAV, DUSTY, EXTRA BUTTER, FINE WINE SOCIAL CLUB, FIRST RESERVE, FLATMATE, FOOTNOTE NZ DANCE, FORWARD STANCE, FUN & FUNNER WITH ORCHESTRA WELLINGTON, FVKVSHIMA, GOODTHINGS DJS, GROOVE COUNCIL, HIWA, HUGO GRRRL, ILL RIOT, INTERLUDE + WONDERLAND, JAMIE AND THE NUMBERS, JAYME MORPETH, JIE JIN, JOLA BURNS, JUSTICE & EMPTY THE CLIP, KEIRA BATTEN COOGAN, KENZIE FROM WELLY, KINGSTON ROSE, LE DANCE, LILA, LISA TOMLINS AND WADE REEVE, LUCY SUMMERFIELD, MĀ, MANSIAH, MANU VAEA, MARCUS MCSHANE, MARROWSPAWN, MASS FREVO ORCHESTRA, MILES CALDER, MOKOTRON, MOKOMOKO & THE SHWAYLIENS, MR MEATY BOY, MURMURATION, NEIL & NICK POWERHOUSE BLUES, NELSON SAMBASSADORS, NOÉ, O & THE MO, ODESSA, OPEN AIR DJS, OSCAR LAVËN & THE NZ SWING QUARTET, PARK FLYERS, PEOPLE OF THE SUN, POPPA JAX, PORCELAIN, POTHOS, RAY LESLIE, RED DOG SALOON BAND, RODGER FOX BIG BAND, ROMI WRIGHTS, RON TE KAWA, ROO, SAMBA AO VENTO, SARAH BOOKMAN’S PLAY MORE, SAPHIKUNA PERU DANCE COMPANY, SETH BOY’S BIGBOYBAND, SHARED SOUL, SHEEPS, SHUT UP & DANCE (Flashmob Crew), SKILAA, SMUDA, SO&SO, SON CLAVE SALSA BAND, SORCHALULA, STACIEZ MUM, SUBVERSION, SURE BOY, SYLC, TE KŌKĪ BIG BAND ONE, THE CIRCLING SUN, THE COFFEE SHOP SESSIONS, THE CS HOUSE BAND, THE GREAT BEAG CÉILĺ BAND, THE PATERSON PLAYERS, TOI, TUSKEAH, TŪ MĀTAU ORA, TWICE AS, TYLER LEGGETT, UNDUBBED., URBAN TUMBLEWEEDS, VELOCINE, VERA ELLEN, WARPATH PROMOTIONS, WEKA, WELLINGTON BATUCADA, WILL MCCLEAN, WILLY SMACKNTUSH, YAWNER, YOUNG GHO$T, 花溪 FLOWERSTREAM

"Already breathing so much life into the area, existing venues in the Cuba Quarter keep CubaDupa pumping for another year, including Garage Project with the Wild Workshop Stage, Fortune Favours, San Fran, Hotel Bristol, Jack Hackett's with the Capital Blues Stage, Valhalla, Southern Cross Carnival Stage, the return of local legends Laundry with a pop-up at Wellington Seamarket, and many more. The outdoor stages such as the Wellington Airport Ngā Taniwha Stage, Glover Park Stage, and Ngā Toi o Te Aro Stage on Te Aro Park will be programmed with incredible lineups featuring the artists mentioned above and more".

Experience MOKOTRON's stunning animated video for 2024's 'ŌHĀKĪ'...