Wellington Jazz Festival Unveils 30th Anniversary Line-up

The Wellington Jazz Festival has confirmed its headline acts for a milestone 30th edition, promising more than 100 performances across five days in the capital this October. Organisers unveiled the first wave of the programme this week, mixing genuine international drawcards with a strong showing from home-grown talent.

Topping the bill is a rare Aotearoa outing from Mercury Prize winner Benjamin Clementine, who brings his stripped-back “one piano, one voice” show to The Opera House on Saturday 17 October for what’s billed as his first-ever New Zealand performance. American singer Macy Gray also returns to the country for the first time in roughly a decade, with her St James Theatre date already sold out before the wider programme has even been finalised, an early sign of how much appetite there is for this year’s Wellington Jazz Festival. Elsewhere, GRAMMY-nominated pianist Joey Alexander opens proceedings at The Opera House, and New Orleans institution Rebirth Brass Band bring four decades of funk-soaked brass tradition to Meow Nui.

It isn’t just an imported line-up, though. Wellington composer and vocalist Zoe Moon, who performs as Mahal, will present a Roberta Flack tribute with fresh orchestral arrangements at Tāwhiri Warehouse, while this year’s commissioned artist, Ruawaipu and Ngāti Porou drummer-composer Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa, premieres a new work developed with a cluster of local collaborators including experimental duo Bub(z) and da Ouncle$. Festival co-directors Dolina Wehipeihana and Tama Waipara both pointed to the breadth of this year’s bill, from major theatre productions to late-night club sets — as central to marking three decades of the event.

For a festival built on the idea of jazz as a broad church, the 2026 programme leans into that reputation, spanning soul, funk, brass and blues alongside more traditional jazz forms. This first announcement covers only the ticketed theatre and club headline shows; organisers say the full citywide line-up, likely to include the smaller venues and free events the festival is known for, will follow on 2 September. Tickets for the acts announced so far are on sale now via the festival’s website, and given how quickly the Macy Gray show sold out, fans eyeing Clementine or Alexander may not want to wait for the second announcement to lock in seats.