May is the busiest cultural month on Auckland’s calendar, and this year it delivers with particular force. It’s NZ Music Month, the Comedy Festival takes over every stage in town, the Writers Festival arrives at the Aotea Centre, and Fran Lebowitz closes the month with her singular New York candour. Fill the diary without apology.
Mumford & Sons: Prizefighter Tour
Where: Spark Arena, Auckland
When: Saturday 2nd May 2026
The British folk-rock band returns to New Zealand for the first time since 2019, bringing the full arena-scale production that has defined their live reputation. The Prizefighter Tour supports their sixth studio album of the same name, co-produced with The National’s Aaron Dessner and featuring collaborations with Hozier, Gracie Abrams, Chris Stapleton and Gigi Perez. It arrives less than a year after RUSHMERE debuted at number one in the UK and fuelled a sold-out global run. With Aotearoa’s own Folk Bitch Trio as special guests, it’s a Saturday night worth clearing the calendar for. Book tickets →
Aotearoa Art Fair
Where: Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland Waterfront
When: 30th April – 3rd May 2026
The country’s premier contemporary art fair returns for its largest edition yet, with more than 60 galleries and over 200 artists from New Zealand, Australia, London and the Pacific spread across all three levels of the Viaduct Events Centre. The sheer breadth of the offering (painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, installation) makes this the best single place to take the temperature of the contemporary art scene in Aotearoa. Among the highlights, Lisa Reihana’s landmark digital panorama In Pursuit of Venus [infected], which represented New Zealand at the 2017 Venice Biennale, is showing outside an institution for the first time. Whether you’re a serious collector or simply enjoy spending an afternoon surrounded by interesting things to look at, the Art Fair rewards the visit, and the waterfront setting doesn’t hurt. We’ve already published our full guide to what to see at this year’s fair. Book tickets →
& Juliet
Where: The Civic, Queen Street, Auckland CBD
When: Until 3rd May 2026
If you haven’t seen it yet, the clock is ticking. The West End and Broadway smash (eight Olivier nominations, a Forbes best-musical-of-the-year nod, and powered by an era-defining playlist of Max Martin pop anthems) closes its New Zealand debut run at the Civic on 3 May. Created by Emmy Award-winning Schitt’s Creek writer David West Read and performed by a company of outstanding Kiwi talent, it is funny, surprisingly moving, and the kind of show people see twice. Don’t be the person who waits too long. Book tickets →
NZ International Comedy Festival
Where: Various locations Auckland-wide
When: 1st – 24th May 2026
Now in its 33rd Auckland edition, the Comedy Festival takes over every stage in town for almost the entire month, with more than 150 performers across over 550 shows at venues including The Civic, Aotea Centre, Q Theatre, Basement Theatre, The Classic and the Bruce Mason Centre. The Best Foods Comedy Gala on 1 May, hosted by the indomitable Dai Henwood, is the marquee opening night (filmed for broadcast on Three), while the Last Laughs Awards Gala on 24 May, hosted by Guy Montgomery, closes things out with the Billy T and Fred Award announcements. In between, the programme runs deep: local favourites Brynley Stent, Paul Ego, Tom Sainsbury and James Nokise share the month with international acts including Emmanuel Sonubi, Sofie Hagen and Elf Lyons. Pick a name you know, or take a chance on someone you don’t. The festival reliably rewards both approaches. Browse the programme →
NZ Music Month: Jazz on a Sunday at Queens Rooftop
Where: Queens Rooftop, Auckland CBD
When: Every Sunday in May, 2–5pm
May is NZ Music Month, this year themed Our Sounds, Our Spaces, and the city is full of ways to mark it. Our pick of the bunch is Nathan Haines’ Sunday jazz residency at Queens Rooftop: four afternoons of live jazz from 2 to 5pm, with vinyl DJ sets from Haines himself and a curated Teremana Tequila and Cointreau cocktail menu for each session. The lineup runs Michal Martyniuk Trio (3 May), Elisa, aka Rachel Clarke, on Mother’s Day (10 May, an inspired bit of programming), Coco Charles (17 May) and Joe Kaptein Trio (24 May). A rooftop, a cocktail and an afternoon of jazz curated by one of the country’s finest. It’s hard to think of a better way to spend a Sunday in May, and it’s particularly worth noting as a Mother’s Day destination. More information →
Auckland Writers Festival, Waituhi o Tāmaki
Where: Aotea Centre and venues across Auckland CBD
When: 12th – 17th May 2026
The 27th Auckland Writers Festival is one of the largest literary events in the Southern Hemisphere, and this year’s programme (more than 220 artists across over 170 events) delivers a week that could comfortably fill a diary on its own. The headline names speak for themselves: Patrick Radden Keefe (Say Nothing, Empire of Pain) opens proceedings, Maggie O’Farrell appears virtually, and the programme features Jacinda Ardern, Mick Herron, RF Kuang, Catherine Chidgey, Amitav Ghosh, Jimmy Wales and many more. The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ceremony takes place on 13 May, and the Festival Gala Night on the 14th. Whether you’re there for a single session or blocking out the full week, the Writers Festival is one of those events that makes Auckland feel like the city it wants to be. Browse the programme →
Fat Freddy’s Drop: Based On A True Story
Where: Auckland Town Hall & The Civic
When: 15th – 17th May 2026
Three Auckland dates, two at the Town Hall (15 and 16 May) and a third added at The Civic (17 May) after the first two sold out almost immediately, for a tour that carries genuine emotional weight. This is Fat Freddy’s Drop’s first run of shows since the sudden death of founding member Chris ‘MU’ Faiumu, and they’ve chosen to honour his memory by performing Based On A True Story in full. The album spent 111 weeks in the New Zealand Top 40, won eight NZ Music Awards and remains one of the most beloved records in the country’s history. Tickets are looking sold out across all three nights, but keep an eye on official resale channels. Releases do happen, and this is one worth being persistent for. More information →
Louise Bourgeois: In Private View
Where: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Wellesley Street East
When: Until 17th May 2026
Still running and still essential, and closing on 17 May, so the window is narrowing. The first solo exhibition of Louise Bourgeois ever mounted in Aotearoa draws together over six decades of work from an international private collection, many pieces exhibited publicly for the first time. Bourgeois (1911-2010) remains one of the most psychologically charged and influential artists of the last century, her practice animated by memory, the body, family and the subconscious. If you missed it in April, May is your last chance. A guided tour of the exhibition takes place regularly; check the Gallery website for session times. Don’t leave this one to regret. More information →
Shintaro & Yoshiko Nakahara: Flowing Through
Where: Sanderson
When: 29th April – 24th May 2026
For something more intimate, Sanderson Contemporary presents a new body of work by Japanese-born, Auckland-based artist duo Shintaro and Yoshiko Nakahara. The husband-and-wife pair, both trained at separate art schools in Tokyo and both former horologists, have, over the years of collaboration, developed what they call the “third artist”: Shintaro works in bright, solid colour and calligraphic forms; Yoshiko responds with painstakingly detailed black ink strokes and washes. The result is contemplative, precise and quietly beautiful. The exhibition opened as part of the Aotearoa Art Fair VIP programme and runs through most of May, a fine and more intimate counterpoint to the larger institutional offerings elsewhere this month. Free entry. More information →
An Evening with Fran Lebowitz
Where: Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre
When: Thursday 28th May 2026, 7.30pm
The month’s final word goes to New York’s sharpest tongue. Fran Lebowitz, author, cultural commentator and the star of Martin Scorsese’s hit Netflix series Pretend It’s a City, arrives in Auckland as the last stop on a run through Sydney Opera House, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne. Presented by the Auckland Writers Festival and FANE, An Evening with Fran Lebowitz is exactly what it sounds like: ninety uninterrupted minutes of the most acerbic, funny and unapologetically opinionated cultural commentary you’ll hear all year. On politicians, on AI, on people who walk too slowly, on billionaires. Nothing is too great or too small for her baleful glare. One night only. Tickets from $90. Book tickets →
Sharks, Auckland War Memorial Museum
Where: Auckland War Memorial Museum, The Auckland Domain, Parnell
When: Until 1st June 2026
Extended through to June due to exceptional public interest, Auckland Museum’s blockbuster touring exhibition from the Australian Museum remains one of the best things to do in the city. Step inside a specially designed digital oceanarium, come face-to-fin with scientifically accurate life-sized models, and get hands-on with touchable fossils and teeth. The exhibition spans 450 million years of evolution and weaves together cutting-edge science, indigenous perspectives and immersive design with real rigour. It’s pitched perfectly for curious minds of any age, and the extension means there’s no excuse left for not having seen it. More information →
