Takatāpui divas break South Island mould at World Buskers Festival

The Tīwhas, a takatāpui pop girl group, will light up the World Buskers Festival with their explosive mix of live music, dance, comedy, and kaupapa Māori, celebrating indigenous artistry and representation on one of Aotearoa’s biggest public stages.

The festival, which kicked off on Friday, is a 10-day celebration of street performance transforming central Ōtautahi/Christchurch into a giant open-air stage.

Now in its 33rd year, the festival is expected to attract about 100,000 people and features more than 240 free street performances alongside 25 ticketed shows.

This year’s programme spans circus, acrobatics, kapa haka, theatre, and comedy, with a strong focus on cultural storytelling.

A key highlight is KOHA, a dedicated Māori and Pasifika programme that centres indigenous creativity, warmth, and bold performance.

The Tiwhas are a takatāpui pop girl group originally formed by Dame Jthan (Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata, Magiagi, Sapapāli‘i, Lotofaga), Pānia (Ngāti Tuwharetoa, and Slay West (Tainui).

Two years later, the group expanded into a quartet with the addition of Tina Coco Couture (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hikairo).

Speaking with Tofiga Fepulea’i on Island Time, Pānia says the upcoming shows will feel like a snapshot of the group’s greatest hits.

“We haven't been to Te Waipounamu [South Island] before, so it's all things they haven't seen. We’re giving them the classic Tīwha experience,” Pānia says.

Jthan, the group’s leader and winner of the Campion Accolade for Outstanding Performance, says the Tiwhas first formed as a trio during the Wellington Fringe Festival in 2022.

“We sing live, blend waiata Māori, kapa haka and poi. Tina Coco Couture is our poi expert. We wow audiences all across Aotearoa and so we're really excited to get to the South Island finally,” Jthan says.

The show opens with a te reo Māori version of Sweet Dreams by The Eurythmics, which Jthan says is a way of acknowledging the whenua and introducing the group.

Supporting the vocalists is a live band, Ngāti Tīwha, featuring Kree Matthews, Tom Knowles, and Hayden Taylor.

For Tina Coco Couture, the opening moments are especially meaningful. “There might be whanaunga [kin] in the audience and they come up to you after the show like, ‘I'm from there too’. It's making those connections that I love.”

Other highlights of this year’s World Buskers Festival include Australian circus sensation Cirque Bon Bon at the Isaac Theatre Royal and aerial acrobatics from Canadian duo The Silver Starlets.

The programme also features the "Eight Days of Play" series, daily Buskers Jams, Late Night Cabaret, and interactive experiences ranging from chalk art storytelling to sunrise dance sessions.

The Tīwhas will make their Te Waipounamu debut with two late-night ticketed performances during the final weekend of the festival at Papahou on Friday, 30 January and Saturday, 31 January 2026.

For more information and the full festival programme, visit the World Buskers Festival website.