Results for Arts & Entertainment

Humpback Whales filmed in Vava’u in 2018 feature in a new TV Series ‘Secrets of the Whales’ currently airing on Disney+. Alistair Coldrick and world class Tongan skipper, Ali Takau from Dolphin Pacific Diving in Vava'u were involved in the project.

With a difficult year due to the COVID-19 pandemic globally, much needed Christmas cheer from the Tupou College brass band was heard in the Central Business District today, December 22.

Musical Tongans are urged to apply to join in a Commonwealth Musical collaboration “for healing the human spirit during CoVid-19”. By combining the voices of 54 musicians from 54 member countries in a powerful virtual performance, the music video aims to showcase every Commonwealth member nation. “We need a musician to represent Tonga on this project, and we haven't had any applications yet!” Léonie Adams, artistic director of the The Dionysus Ensemble told Matangi Tonga this morning.

The Matariki Art Trail exhibition featuring work by Tongan and New Zealand artists, including Visesio Siasau and Serene Tay, was launched by New Zealand High Commissioner HE Tiffany Babington last night at the Waterfront Restaurant and Lodge, Ma’ufanga.

A Wesley College student (Year 13), Sione Teutau, has won the Best Actor award for Auckland South and East, in a national drama festival, for playing a nurse in a short performance of a scene from ‘Romeo and Juliet’, The judge said that Sione's nurse was played confidently and with a delightful sense of fun and comic timing, and in homage to Shakespeare’s original male actors.

Australian photographer, Jasmine Carey has won USD$120,000 in the HIPA International Photography Award for her amazing photo of a humpback whale mother sleeping beside her two-week-old calf, in Vava’u, Tonga. The rich award attracts photographic entries from all over the world. Jasmine's winning image on the theme ‘Water’ has gained worldwide publicity, raising Tonga’s profile for whale watching and swimming activities. By Eleanor Gee.

A new Pacific feature film called The Legend of Baron To’a, starring Australian-Tongan actor Talia’uli (Uli) Latukefu, and New Zealand-Tongan actor John Tui opens today, in New Zealand cinemas.

Beau Louis Takapu, a Tongan-American, debuted his first solo clothing collection in a fashion show held at Fale Pasifika in Auckland on January 31.


The New Zealand Youth Choir held a special performance in Nuku’alofa, during their first stop in a Pacific Tour to celebrate their 40th anniversary.