Ny Oh and Yurt Party will lead the 2027 Auckland Folk Festival, which returns to Kumeu Showgrounds over Auckland Anniversary Weekend next January.
Running from Friday, January 29th to Monday, February 1st, the three-day festival will bring together artists from Aotearoa, Australia, Ireland, Ghana and the US for its latest celebration of folk music, dance and culture.
At the top of the bill is Ny Oh, who returns to New Zealand following a run that has included touring with Harry Styles and winning Best Folk Album at the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards.
She’ll be joined by Christchurch street-party favourites Yurt Party, who head north following a major headline performance at the 2026 Woodford Folk Festival.
The Australian contingent includes Apolline, winners of the Gill Rees Memorial Award for Young Musicians at the National Folk Festival and Folk Alliance Australia’s Youth Artist of the Year at the Australian Folk Music Awards.
Melbourne trio The Inadequates will also cross the Tasman, alongside five-piece bluegrass outfit The Borough, featuring ABOTMA Young Performer of the Year Lucy Kammerman on fiddle. Australian duo Lucy & Luisa are also among the wider lineup.
Ireland will be represented by traditional four-piece Tulua, while Ghanian musician Yaw Asumadu, now based in Aotearoa, will bring his WOMAD-honed sound to the festival.
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Cy Winstanley will return to New Zealand from Nashville for the 2027 event. One half of Tui Award-winning duo Tattletale Saints and a regular collaborator with Tami Neilson, Winstanley will perform at the festival alongside US singer-songwriter Jeff Davis, who also returns to the bill.
Award-winning Waikato/Tainui Ngāti Maniapoto songwriter Nicola Mitchell will appear with her acoustic trio for a set combining storytelling, dark Americana and bluegrass influences.
Auckland-based singer-songwriter dān dān 丹丹 will bring her bilingual English and Mandarin songwriting and classically trained piano to Kumeu following the release of her debut EP, songs about food.
Hinekoia Tomlinson (Ngāti Hine, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Awa), founder of Waiata Mai Vocal Coaching, will also return to host her popular waiata workshops, combining vocal technique and voice science with waiata.
“2027 is going to be a magnificent celebration of our creative community,” Festival Programme & Artist Coordinator Emily Roughton said. “There is a place for everyone, and space for young and old to enjoy a wonderful blend of tradition and discovery.”
Now in its sixth decade, Auckland Folk Festival is New Zealand’s largest folk festival, with its programme spanning traditional and contemporary approaches to folk music.
Five covered stages will operate across the weekend, including a dedicated Kids Stage, alongside music and dance workshops, flax weaving, pottery, food trucks and camping.
The Kids Stage will again feature Winstanley’s alter ego Simon Stanley, alongside Niccolo Piccolo, an interactive musical project created by Mitchell that introduces tamariki to te reo Māori through original bilingual waiata.
Also appearing across the 2027 festival are The Jews Brothers, Whangārei City Morris Dancers and Ethno NZ, with further artists still to be announced.
Day passes and full-weekend passes are available now, with early bird tickets closing December 31st, 2026.
