Te Muka Toi Te Muka Tākata, the district’s Creative & Cultural Hui, will return on 10–14 June 2026.

After last year’s overwhelmingly positive response, the hui will once again bring together artists, makers, cultural leaders and creative thinkers from across the Queenstown Lakes region and beyond.

Delivered in partnership between Three Lakes Cultural Trust and with Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), the four-day hui creates space to gather, connect, challenge thinking and celebrate the creative energy of this place.

The 2026 programme is now live and registrations are open!

This years’ programme spans the big picture through to the practical: the future of creativity and culture, pathways into creative careers, rights and ownership and what it takes to make work viable.

A snapshot of what's on:

Wednesday 10 June - Queenstown
Creative Pathways - a session for anyone curious about the realities of starting out and sustaining a career as a creative.

Thursday 11 June - Queenstown
The Future of Creativity and Culture - What makes a place somewhere people want to live and stay and how is that shaped and supported by culture?

Friday 12 and Saturday June 13 - Wānaka and Queenstown
Hands-on workshops designed to equip people working across creative, cultural, heritage and community spaces with practical tools, led by experienced practitioners from across Aotearoa.

Sunday 14 June
Open Studios and Creative Trails returns, with a district-wide day of artists opening their studios, offering a chance to explore workspaces and see what’s being made.

Explore the programme - with more speakers, exciting events and workshops announced as we go. 

https://www.threelakesculturaltrust.co.nz/creative-and-culture-hui