Etena Fest
Etena Fest, a festival of dance, performance and craft for Titirangi Village, returns in November 2026 for its anticipated second season. Brought to you through the collaboration of Ta’alili x Lopdell Precinct.
Etena Fest emerges from the centre of an amphitheatre of ngahere and moana, the remarkable Waitakare Ranges. A month of dance, performances and communal arts workshops to activate local spaces, grow connections and share artistic knowledge within the community.
Titirangi’s arable soil, ecosystems of undergrowth and protective canopies are a place of seeding imagination. Imaginings that physicalise into rooted, interconnected arts ecology. Etena Fest arrives on the continuum of performance and artistic history of this special location to tautoko what has been and what still could be.
Etena Fest is born of a kaupapa in supporting the vital continuation of opportunity for local dancers and arts leaders to present, develop and extend their thinking to the wider community around them. Committing to the de-centre of the inner city as the local for experiencing and being moved by powerful live performance. We create in hope, beyond conventional funding systems and the challenges they pose to artists. We enliven the landscape around us.
Program release mid September
Etena Fest
Ta’alili’s kaupapa is rooted in creating opportunities for artists and communities to grow beyond conventional funding and support systems. Over 1.5 months, our local village of Titirangi—surrounded by the moana and the Waitākere Ranges—became a vital space for our artists and collaborators to continue creating, developing, and presenting work through challenging seasons.
In partnership with The Upstairs Gallery and Lopdell House, we activated Titirangi over six weekends from late October to early December 2024. Utilizing Lopdell House’s Rooftop, Seminar Room, and Titirangi Theatre, we presented dance and theatre performances, community workshops, and movement sessions. Additionally, the Titirangi War Memorial Hall hosted Lofty Lab, our directors’ movement workshop, and The Village Open-Style Battle, further deepening our engagement with artists and audiences alike.
Rooftop Solos featured the artists and their friends: Jared Hemopo ft. Aloali’i Tapu, Ken Vaega, Claire O’neil, Seidah Tuaoi ft. Ennaolla Paea-Vaega, Devonte Tama’ali’i, Aahana Mohan, Tori Manley-Tapu & Rose Philpott and Joshua & Tyler Carney-Faleatua at Lopdell House Rooftop
Lofty Lab facilitated by Aloali’i & Tori Manley-Tapu at Titirangi War Memorial Hall
The Gathering – Raranga Kete Workshop with Te’okotai (Ta’i) Patai and Social Sewing with Hannah Emson at Lopdell House Seminar Room
The Village Open-Style Battle by Ta’alili ft. guest judges, Seidah (Slim Seidy) Tuaoi, Sheldon ($cent) Rua and John (Happyfeet) Vaifale, DJ BOJO and guest battler William (DONBUCK) Rakena with MC Li’i at Titirangi War Memorial Hall
Tides of Memory performed by Villa Lemanu and directed by Aloali’i Tapu at Titirangi Theatre
Photography Credits: Jinki Cambronero, Rich Parsonson and Tatiana Harper
