Not sure where to begin?
Start with what you actually enjoy.
Have a nosy through an architecturally designed home. Stay out after dark. Get your hands dirty. Follow a big idea. Or explore a familiar city from a completely different perspective.
There isn’t one right way to experience Festival of Design Aotearoa and you definitely don’t need to call yourself a designer to find something worth showing up for.
With 50+ events across Whanganui and Palmerston North, we’ve put together a few Festival personalities to help you find your way in.
The City Explorer
You want to see familiar streets differently.
Explore public art, architecture, adaptive reuse and the stories embedded in the places around us.
Te Hīkoi Toi: Sunset Tour 24 October, Palmerston North (pictured above)
Te Hīkoi Toi: Morning Tour 25 October, Palmerston North
Emily Hartley-Skudder: CAMEO Exhibition22 August - 2 July, Palmerston North
Design in Public: Cycle and Walking Tours18-25 October, Whanganui
Sam Moore: Talk - Why Public Plantings Suck (and what to do about it?)25 October, Palmerston North
Night Lights16-25 October, Whanganui
Re:Using the City - Reimagining Whanganui’s Built Heritage22 October, Whanganui
Old Buildings, New Uses: Adaptive Reuse Walking Tour23 October, Whanganui
The Nosy One
You’ve always wanted to know what’s behind that front door.
Step inside remarkable homes and spaces you don’t normally get to see.
HERE presents: OPEN HOME WHANGANUI & PALMERSTON NORTH (pictured above)
He Puawaitana, the Flourishing Te Ao Hou Marae: Open Day
Beca Lighting Studio: Designing the Night Guided Tours Whanganui and Palmerston North
LandLAB: Landscape as Operating System, Exhibition and Talk
Black Pine Architects: Open Studios
Dalgleish Architects: Open Studio
Design Curious: The Architectural Edit
The Hands-On One
You don’t just want to look. You want to make something.
Get involved with clay, textiles, making, experimenting and all-ages creative play.
Sound Mechanics: Fun Palaces Workshop17-19 October, Whanganui (pictured above)
Whanganui Fun Palaces: Laboratory of Fun16-18 October, Whanganui
Creative Spaces / Zine Machine: Fun Palaces Workshop16-17 October, Whanganui
Trashion and Instrument Making for Parade: Fun Palaces Workshop16-17 October, Whanganui
Body Sound: Fun Palaces Workshop18 October
Raku with Ahi Wāhine: Night Firing22 October
Weaving Off Loom: Liz Mitchell Workshop24-25 October, Whanganui
The Big Thinker
You came for the questions that follow you home.
Hear from local and international thinkers, practitioners and changemakers exploring how design can shape a better future.
Presenters
Tom EslingerAssociate Professor, Executive Creative Director, Artisttomeslinger.com / Studio Twenty5k LLC
HotHausContemporary Hot Glass StudioHotHaus
Bonnie FahoomeCo-Executive DirectorDesign Core
Kris SowersbyDirector & Lead Type DesignerKlim Type Foundry
Johnson WitehiraProfessor Toi Hangarau — Creative TechnologiesMassey University
Mikael SorknaesChief Design OfficerMunicipality, Public Administration | Kolding, Denmark
Ellen YoungDirector, Paper RoadFounder, Real Worlders
Georgina ClarkeCreative DirectorThoughtFull
The Future-Shaper
You’re already thinking about what comes next.
Explore accessibility, technology, AI, immersive experiences and new possibilities for how we live, learn and create.
The Possibility Design: Discussion Panel18 October, Whanganui
Beyond Boundaries: Technology, Design and the Future of Innovation20 October, Whanganui
Education Programme20-21 October, Whanganui
Josh Taylor: Eco Submarine, Talk24 October, Palmerston North
Designing Tomorrow Summit16-17 October, Whanganui
He Ao Āpōpō, He Ao Tea: Māori Futures Exhibition16-25 October, Whanganui
Preparing for a Better Future: Learning by Design LEGO Talk18 October, Whanganui
Whanganui Mūmū: Whanganui By Design Exhibition16-25 October, Whanganui
He Ao Āpōpō, He Ao Tea: Māori Futures: Exhibition Curator Tour17 October, Whanganui
Old Buildings, New Uses: Adaptive Reuse Walking Tour23 October, Whanganui
The Night Owl
You want to see what happens when the Festival stays up late.
Experience light, sound, art and the city after dark.
Night Lights16-25 October, Whanganui (pictured above)
Tiri: Te Araroa Woman Far Walking16 October, Whanganui
Sound Canvas16-17 October, Whanganui
Raku with Ahi Wāhine: Night Firing22 October,
HAUSLYFE; how to make a Haus a Home – Hothaus Exhibition Opening Night16 October, Whanganui
Beca Lighting Studio: Designing the Night Guided Tour Whanganui23 October, Whanganui
Alix Abanda: Designing the Night, Talk24 October, Palmerston North
Beca Lighting Studio: Designing the Night Guided Tour Palmerston North24 October, Palmerston North
Anthonie Tonnon: Cinematographer23 October, Whanganui
More than one sound like you?
Perfect. There’s more than one way to find your way in.
Mix and match your way through ten days of ideas, places, people, making and experiences, then build a Festival that feels like yours.