Maya Angelou performs at the 2021 event. Photo: Amarbir Singh
Global disruptions to shipping have forced the Auckland Arts Festival to postpone four performances.
The festival has been awaiting delivery of an outdoor show tent, being shipped from Belgium. But festival chief executive Robbie Macrae said world shipping is in disarray, and it has affected the arrival of the Spiegeltent, which was meant to come through the Suez Canal.
The new route took the tent around Cape Horn, adding weeks to the journey.
"Until last week we were confident it would arrive on time, or at least with minimal disruption to our planned shows, but just yesterday a new arrival date was confirmed - Sunday 4 March - which meant getting the tent erected, and sets and performance infrastructure safely in place, in time to open four nights later, was untenable."
Robbie Macrae. Photo: Supplied
The first four performances in the Spiegeltent in Aotea Square have been cancelled. The 16 remaining performances will continue as scheduled.
"We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption that this causes, but promise that the show will be absolutely worth the wait when Bernie Dieter and her misfit crew finally get to unleash their talents on Tāmaki Makaurau for a nearly two-week season," Macrae said.
Boot Scoot'n Boogie (the barn-dancing spectacle led by Tom Sainsbury and Lara Fischel-Chisholm) and Te Manawa Te Kāhui Kōrero (a discussion led by artist, curator and creative Nigel Borell, MNZM) which were also planned to take place in the Spiegeltent on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 March respectively, have been rescheduled. Boot Scoot'n Boogie will now take place on Sunday 17 March at 1pm in the Spiegeltent, while a new location for Te Manawa Te Kāhui Kōrero has yet to be confirmed.
"We still have many other fantastic events in the festival line-up, and we will continue as planned with our opening event Waiata Mai on Thursday 7 March," Macrae said.
"We're looking forward to singing our hearts out to herald the opening of the festival and then warmly welcoming the Bernie Dieter's Club Kabarett performers and opening the beloved Spiegeltent a few days later."