Youth Arts New Zealand (YANZ) is proud to announce the launch of 'Sound of our Streets' - a winter youth performance festival, activating the streets of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland with the vibrant sound and energy of rangatahi performers. With a diverse lineup of young musicians programmed to perform between 24 June - 3 July, 'Sound of our Streets' shares the spirit of Auckland through the words, beats and music of our youth.
“This festival is shining a spotlight on Tāmaki Makaurau’s diverse creative rangatahi”, says Youth Arts New Zealand’s CEO, Matthew Goldsworthy. “Auckland is brimming with emerging talent but scarce on meaningful, paid opportunities to authentically showcase creative identities. This makes it incredibly difficult to break into the sector, so we’ve built a platform and campaign that can empower young creatives to embrace sustainable careers while creating an energetic and vibrant city atmosphere for Auckland’s public.”
“Aotearoa has always lacked equitable opportunities for emerging creatives, especially in the music sector. It’s awesome to be working with a team of rangatahi leaders dedicated to creating these opportunities and giving myself and other youth a platform to showcase their talent.” says YANZ Project Lead & singer-songwriter Danielle Hao-Aickin (part of Ersha Island 二沙岛, one of the ‘Sound of our Streets’ performers).
‘Sound of our Streets’ will provide over $20,000 in artist fees directly to young creatives; boosting their confidence, providing direct financial support, and positioning rangatahi front and centre of Tāmaki Makaurau’s reactivation.
“The benefits of having local performers activating public areas cannot be understated”, says Goldsworthy. “If you go to cultural hubs around the world like Rome, Paris and New York, creativity is everywhere, on every street corner - it builds a powerful connection between people and their community. If Auckland is truly going to be a global creative capital as set out in Auckland Unlimited’s 2030 Creative Industries Strategy, we need to think differently about the ways that we can embed creativity into the design of this city. We need more visible, accessible and equitable creative pathways. It all starts with recognising, valuing and supporting the next generation - they’re the ones building our future.”
Youth Arts New Zealand (YANZ) is Aotearoa’s leading youth-led organisation generating equitable opportunities for rangatahi (youth) to explore creativity both as a career and as a means of self-expression. Since YANZ’s founding in 2018, their youth-led team have run 250+ impactful events and projects, provided creative experiences for over 500 rangatahi across Aotearoa, and distributed over $165,000 in artist fees to young creatives through their initiatives.
'Sound of our Streets' is supported by the Local Activation Fund Programme, administered by Auckland Unlimited on behalf of the New Zealand Government, and is also proudly supported by Auckland City of Music.
The full schedule and lineup can be found at www.soundsofourstreets.nz.