BNZ Auckland Diwali: Get Ready For The Colour, Sights & Sounds Of Festivities

Auckland’s city centre is the place to be this October when the BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival brings a celebration of music, food and performances to Aotea Square, Queen Street and Rutland Street.

This year the festival has expanded to begin on 7 October with a series of ticketed music, dance and theatre events before the free weekend festival takes place on 11-12 October.

The weekend festival programme will run from midday to 9pm across both days, showcasing contemporary and traditional Indian performances across three stages. Visitors can enjoy Bollywood dance competitions, music, exhibitions, delicious vegetarian sweet and savoury food, theatre, art installations, light projections, yoga classes, a chill-out zone and Bollywood movies.

The event, one of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s biggest cultural festivals, is inspired by the celebration of Diwali, also known as Deepawali – the festival symbolising light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

Experience the BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival 

The weekend festival on 11-12 October is free to attend, perfect for a daytime or evening outing with whānau and friends, with lots to see and do.

• A programme of events including exciting cultural performances, art installations, yoga, a Pop Art exhibition and live classical performances at Auckland Central City Library, and an art exhibition featuring stories of Indian migration to Aotearoa at the Aotea Centre.
  
  
• A Bollywood Dance Battle with prizes to be won.

• The BNZ chill-out zone and interactive basketball game.
• Rangoli light projections on the Auckland Town Hall from sunset – 11pm.
  
  
• Illuminated art installations in Freyberg Place and Khartoum Place.
  
  
• Dance performance by the Tamil New Zealand School of Dance at Ellen Melville Centre.
  
  
• Indian music by the Basant Madhur Ensemble at Ellen Melville Centre and Freyberg Place.
  
  
• Retail stalls selling arts and crafts.
  
  
• An array of food vendors offering mouth-watering vegetarian Indian dishes including pakora, pav bhaji and kulfi, plus a special Diwali ice-cream flavour.
  
  
• A spectacular public fireworks display to close the festival on 12 October at 8.50pm
  
  For the first time the festival has the added attraction of ticketed events held from 7 October across the Auckland Town Hall, Aotea Centre and Q Theatre. The line-up includes a performance of Bollywood Meets Jazz, music concert Lucky Ali, Miss IndiaNZ, and dance productions Ram Leela and Kundalini: The Awakening.

Plan your travel in advance

Parking restrictions and road closures will be in place on and around the weekend festival, so plan your travel ahead of time. The easiest way to travel to and from the BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival is to use Auckland Transport buses and trains and the AT Mobile app, Journey Planner or visit the timetables page for scheduled bus times – and keep your eyes open for the double-decker Diwali bus!

 Complimentary rickshaws are available from the Waitematā Station transport hub on 11-12 October. Just look for the BNZ Rickshaw pick-up point and hop on for a free ride up Queen Street.

For those who opt to cycle to the event, there will be bike racks available. Check out Auckland Transport’s walking and biking paths to help you plan your journey. Bike Auckland’s valet will be available to help keep your bike safe and secure, plus free safety checks for your bike will be available.  

Accessible drop-off points and limited mobility parking is located on Wakefield Street. The Civic Car Park has 20 mobility car parks which will all be available as normal. The festival is accessible through paved pathways.

Opening hours of the weekend festival are: 11 – 12 October, 12pm – 9pm both days.

 What to bring with you to the weekend festival

 Your friends and family – the BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival is a great group outing and a family-friendly event with something for all ages.
An empty water bottle (no glass please) – there will be free water stations on site to fill up your bottle.
Sunblock and layers – Auckland’s weather can be unpredictable – bring sunblock, warm layers and a raincoat.
Cash – while most stalls have eftpos, some may only take cash.

Leave at home
No alcohol, cigarettes or vapes will be allowed at the festival, which is smoke-free, alcohol-free and family friendly.
Please do not bring commercial photography equipment or drones into the festival.
Dogs are not allowed at the festival (with the exception of service dogs).

 At the festival
To make the most of your festival experience, check out the BNZ Auckland Diwali website for performance schedules, including the Bollywood Dance Battles, movies, maps and more.

Please help us to reach our 70% waste diversion goal by using the recycling bins on site.

 More Diwali celebrations

Bollywood dance activations will be taking place in Te Komititanga Square on the mornings of 2 and 9 October.

As part of the Diwali celebrations Vector Lights – the partnership between Vector, Auckland Council and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency – will present a dazzling rangoli-inspired light show on the Auckland Harbour Bridge from 6-12 October. The light shows will run every 15 minutes between 8pm and midnight.

 Notes to editor

• The BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival is an Auckland Council Event, delivered by council-controlled organisation Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU), the region’s cultural, events and destination agency.

• The festival is a family-friendly, smoke-free, alcohol-free and vegetarian event.
• For more information visit the official festival website.
• In 2023 BNZ became the naming rights partner of both the Auckland Diwali Festival and the Auckland Lantern Festival. The announcement of the partnership can be found HERE.
• Imagery for the BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival can be found HERE.

Light projections and illuminated art installations are proudly supported by Auckland Council and the city centre targeted rate.