Uptown Futures Festival

  July 19, 2023

The 2023 Uptown Futures Festival was a huge success

The Uptown Futures Festival has come to a close, after a successful week of inspiration, conversations, meeting new neighbours, and amazing collaborations; all centred around showcasing some of the incredible student work from AUT, Unitec and the University of Auckland.

Alongside local business The Urban Advisory, Uptown has had over 550 students from 1st year right through to Masters, reimagining our neighbourhood and creating visions of its potential. The festival showcased a selection of these projects, to act as a catalyst for community input into the development of the area.

 

Student Showcases popped-up in Uptown at Kāhui St David's, Brothers Beer & Juke Joint BBQ, and 1 Mt Eden Road. We also hosted four events across the duration of the festival.

Thank you again to our sponsors for their support in bringing this festival to life! And thank you to everyone who stopped in to say hi, attended an event, engaged in the festival and contributed your thoughts and ideas. It's an exciting time to be living and working in Uptown.

Check out the photo galleries below to see highlights of the festival!


Photo Gallery
Uptown Futures Festival - Directions Event
Kāhui St David's - Saturday 8 July
Photo credit: Shamima Lone


Photo Gallery
Uptown Futures Festival

1 Mount Eden Road, Student Showcase Pop-up
Photo credit: Bink, Brent Kennedy, Rachel Hamilton


Photo Gallery
Uptown Futures Festival - Student Showcase Pop-up
Brothers Beer & Juke Joint BBQ
Photo credit: Brent Kennedy


Photo Gallery
Uptown Futures Festival - Reflections Event
AcademyEX - Wednesday 12 July
Photo credit: Rachel Hamilton

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