Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT) is dynamic, modern and iconic. Our hand is on the pulse of cutting-edge creative energy. Taranaki Arts Festival Trust has been enriching the lives of our people since 1991. We’re proud to present some of the best, world-class festivals and events here in Taranaki, New Zealand. Womad, the Taranaki Garden Festival, Tropfest, Kinetika and the hugely successful Taranaki Arts Festival have brought together people, performers and the community and have become part of the fabric of Taranaki life. TAFT presented its first festival in March 1991. The first of its kind, the Taranaki Arts Festival attracted considerable national attention and generated extraordinary enthusiasm locally. Taranaki was set alight with world-class entertainment, feeding people’s appetite for the cultural ‘stuff’. It was an unprecedented success. The festival showed that arts and live performances could become a major catalyst for encouraging tourism within the region, stimulating the city, businesses, and people ignited by the 150 shows and 500 artists curated into the programme. You can browse our current festivals and our festival archive on our website.