The Aurora Festival aims to inspire a love of orchestral, symphonic band and big band music among young musicians and it’s almost here for 2026. This is a free event, no tickets are required, that runs from Wednesday 26 August to Saturday 29 August.
The Aurora Festival looks to foster a sense of community among New Zealand musicians through coming together in Christchurch to perform music to each other and to promote further opportunities for ensemble playing beyond the school environment.
The festival is open annually to large ensembles and big bands from primary, intermediate and secondary schools who then have the opportunity to perform a 25 minute maximum programme of music. They will then participate in a workshop, led by one of the adjudicators, in which they work on elements identified for development in their performance.
When not involved in warm-up, performances or workshops student will be seated in the auditorium to lend their support to their peers.
The festival looks to raise standards of performance by providing written feedback, and face-to-face workshops, with experienced and professional practitioners.
Outstanding individual performers will be recognised through the presentation of a number of special awards and participation and achievement will be acknowledge through the presentation of certificates a Merit, Bronze, Silver or Gold level.
For full information, including times for each session, visit The Aurora Festival website.
