Midtown Street Party

Midtown has become a little bit Karangahape Road, a little bit Dominion Road, but most of all this neighbourhood has a community vibe all its own.

Midtown is throwing a party in the streets for everyone. Bring your family and friends and join us for live performing arts, delicious eats and hidden retail gems. 

You’ll discover a midtown you’ve never experienced before.

Coming up next: NZ Music Month in Midtown

Elliott Street, Elliott Stables, Atrium on Elliot outside Bed Bath & Beyond, The Strand Arcade, Darby Street.

This May, Midtown is throwing a street party for everyone with fresh tracks and the best of Auckland’s homegrown musicians on repeat. Celebrate NZ Music Month with live DJs spinning slick beats in the Strand, an epic merch market and a rare exhibition of archival photography from some of NZ's most popular artists from the 80s to present day.

Don’t miss special sets from Jack Moser, Club Ruby, Hales, Sandy Mill & DJ Dean Webb, Joshua Duting and more across the night.

Live performances outside The Atrium, 25 Elliot Street:

5 – 5:45pm Jack Moser

Jack Moser is an Auckland-based artist blending raw storytelling with haunting piano and cinematic emotion. A survivor, songwriter, and truth-teller—his music finds the beauty in broken things.

6 – 6:40pm Club Ruby

Club Ruby is an 5 piece Auckland-based band, who have released their first ever single BADA recently. This indie five-piece are on a mission to bring a fresh, exciting perspective to the music scene with catchy, relatable lyrics and stardom in their sights.

7 – 7:45pm HALES

HALES, 23, is a young musical sensation making waves with his soulful Alternative Pop/R&B sound. Growing up in South Auckland, HALES discovered his passion for music at a young age. Influenced by the soulful sounds of Lucky Daye and the introspective songwriting of Dijon, he embarked on a musical journey to create a sound that resonates with listeners and audiences from around the world. He is accompanied by Tivoli Levi on the cajon and Michael Hutchinson on the bass.

8 – 8:45pm Sandy Mill and DJ Dean Webb

Sandy Mill is one of Aotearoa’s finest vocalists, plus a songwriter, collaborator, producer, vinyl selector/DJ, radio host, mentor and Ngati Porou soul sister.

Sandy Mill has performed, worked or collaborated with SJD (current), New Telepathics (current), Dave Dobbyn, Neil Finn & choir, Hollie Smith, Annie Crummer, Laughton Kora and many more local and international artists. You’ll find her behind turntables on the regular, sharing her eclectic vinyl collection, hosting her radio show ‘The Taster’ on Base FM, and mentoring young artists through Island Base and Women about Sound.

Sandy Mill is collaborating with well-known House DJ Dean Webb for this performance.

Music, Photography, Merch: The Strand Arcade, 227 Queen Street

5 -7pm: Tito Tafa

Rebel Soul Records and Tito Tafa spin a selection of soulful vinyl with 90s hip hop and funk.

7 – 9pm: Mr Big Stuff

Time aka Mr Big Stuff brings a disco house set with 80s throwbacks to and 90s dance classics. It’s a big flavour tune dropper - expect to be dancing for this set!

5 – 9pm: Opening Night: NZ Music Photography Exhibition - Glamour and Grit     

Don’t miss this specially curated show of photos and memories of some of NZ's most endearing and popular artists across the 80's to present day. This exhibition lifts the veil to behind-the-scenes images some have never seen before, giving us a glimpse of all sides of the music industry - the community, the glamour and the grit! Featuring photos from Chris Trail, Greg Rewai, Samuel Richards, Jos Wheeler, Tim Gee, plus more to be announced.

Brought to you by Cross St Music Festival and Samuel Richards. Glamour and Grit is on in The Strand Arcade from 5 – 9pm, Thursday 15 May – Sunday 25 May.

5 – 9pm: Merch Market

A wide variety of merch and music related valuables will be available from bands, artists and the music community with a pop-up merch store from Real Groovy. Snap up rare and archival finds from local legends.

Live Music at Elliott Stables:

5:30 – 6:30pm: Harrison Chau on harp
6:45 – 8:15p: Joshua Duting