Auckland Live’s Fringe Town 2021 Line-up Announced

Banquets, Beats, And Hip-Hop Feats: This Is Auckland Live’s Fringe Town 2021
This year’s line-up includes: Sorry for Your Loss, Barrier Ninja, SUSO Alumni, FRNjam, Kita, Imugi 이무기 & Zuke, and more.

Auckland Live’s Fringe Town was created in 2019 – a weeklong artistic takeover of the Auckland Town Hall as part of the Auckland Fringe Festival. That first game-changing programme featured iconic Russian punk protestors Pussy Riot and the extraordinary Movement of the Human by Malia Johnston, Rowan Pierce & Eden Mulholland. The 2020 programme was headlined by the inimitable Alien Weaponry and saw the reformation of haka theatre company Hawaiki TŪ. This year Fringe Town returns with a programme that once again flips the Auckland Town Hall on its head with its combination of pay-what-you-like dinners, intimate performances, and first-time headliners.

Fringe Town programmer Anders Falstie-Jensen says: “The Auckland Fringe Festival is all about artists taking risks and doing things they haven’t done before. Auckland Live’s Fringe Town has handpicked all these performers because we want to support them by giving them the best possible stage to perform on, and I can’t think of a cooler place than the Auckland Town Hall! For the week of Fringe Town, audiences will a get a chance to directly participate or simply experience great performances. Hopefully some of them will also lead to bragging rights in the future like ‘yeah, I saw THAT at Fringe Town back in 2021!”

Here’s the 2021 Fringe Town roll call:

Winner of the 2020 Aotearoa Music Award for Te Māngai Pāho Te Kaipuoro Māori Toa, Best Māori Artist of the Year, Maimoa will headline Fringe Town in a two-hour extravaganza on Saturday 20 February. Trailblazers of Māori pop music, Maimoa are a music collective made up of 11 young, cutting-edge Māori and Pasifika artists. Maimoa have been making headlines since 2015, when they knocked Justin Timberlake off the iTunes NZ Charts with their first single ‘Wairua’ and secured the number two slot on the New Zealand music charts.

The multi-award-winning charity Everybody Eats is putting on a truly soul and body-nourishing experience. Cooking up a storm for an incredible pay-as-you-feel event, several of Auckland’s top chefs are lined up to feature at the Fringe Town session. Aiming to feed 1000 people inside the Auckland Town Hall on Sunday 21 February, Everybody Eats will celebrate community connection while simultaneously caring for people and the environment.

The 2021 season continues Fringe Town’s strong focus on elevating growing talent, with Fresh Movement making their return to the Town Hall for one night only in Battlezone – an all-ages, alcohol-free dance extravaganza. Fresh Movement were part of the inaugural 2019 Fringe Town with their show Māui and were the winner of the Festival’s award for ‘Best Community Engagement’.

Friday 19 February sees an epic triple bill in the Concert Chamber. Wellington-based KITA, led by Nikita Tu-Bryant, have a new album on the horizon and will perform alongside rising stars IMUGI 이무기, and bass and beats supremos ZUKE (Trinity Roots, Rhian Sheehan).

Other Fringe Town highlights include: Barrier Ninja, a verbatim play about hauora devised by Fran Kewene and the autobiographical solo show Sorry For Your Loss from creator Cian Parker, which is also part of the 2021 Auckland Arts Festival programme. The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) will open their doors to a rehearsal of their APO season opener, Bayleys Great Classics: Houstoun Plays Rachmaninov on Thursday 18 February. To catch a glimpse of the musicians of tomorrow the SUSO (Stand Up Stand Out) competition will offer free showcases from the 15th – 17th of February. Another competition for those curious about gaming will give participants the challenge to create a new game in just 48 hours with Frnjam, whilst the kids will enjoy the live broadcast of the 95bFM Kids’ Show at 7am on Sunday 21 February from Aotea Square. Later that day winners of ‘Best Circus’ show at the 2018 Auckland Fringe Festival, Manubrium Circus Theatre make a triumphant return with their outdoor acrobatic new show Towel You What?! 

Auckland Live presents
Fringe Town
Monday 15 – Sunday 21 February
Tickets on sale to the general public from Friday 15 January
#fringetown #aklfringe #aucklandcityofmusic
Full programme can be found here:

FULL PROGRAMME DETAILS

Sorry For Your Loss
Mon 15 – Wed 17 Feb
Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: $15 – $25*

Barrier Ninja
Mon 15 – Wed 17 Feb
Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall
Duration: 60 minutes
Tickets: $15 – $25*

SUSO Alumni
Mon 15 – Wed 17 Feb
Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall
Duration: 60-minute DJ set and 20-30-minute musical performances
All ages
Time: 5.30pm (DJ set), 7.30pm – 9.30pm
Free

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s open rehearsal of
Bayleys Great Classics: Houstoun Plays Rachmaninov
Thu 18 Feb
Auckland Town Hall
Time: 10am – 11am
All ages
Free

Frnjam
Fri 19 – Sun 21 Feb
Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall
Duration: 48 hours
R18
Tickets: $10*

Battlezone
Fri 19 Feb
Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall
Time: 7pm
Duration: Three hours
All ages
Tickets: $20 GA; Students $15*

KITA, IMUGI 이무기 & ZUKE
Fri 19 Feb
Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall
Time: 8pm
Duration: 3 hours
Suitable 13 years and over
Tickets: $35 GA; $25 groups of 6+; $15 students*

Maimoa 
Sat 20 Feb
Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall
Time: 8pm
Duration: 2 hours
Suitable 13 years and over
Tickets: $15 – $35*

The 95bFM Kids’ Show Live Broadcast
Sun 21 Feb
Time: 7am – 9am
Aotea Square
All ages
Free

Everybody Eats at Fringe Town
Sun 21 Feb
Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall
Time: 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 5pm
Duration: 60 minutes per session
All ages

Towel You What?!
Sun 21 Feb
Aotea Square
Time: 12pm & 2.30pm
Duration: 30 minutes
All ages
Free

*service fees apply.