Warriors + Poets || Creative Festival

Ōtautahi Christchurch

A one-day gathering for Christian artists, makers, bards and mystics growing in a more embodied faith—It’s for those who’ve walked through the fire, faced the dark night of the soul, and emerged creating beauty out of ashes.

What’s the Big Dream?

The dream is for the Warriors + Poets || Creative Festival to be a gathering for creatives whose art carries the fingerprints of the sacred, deep questioning, and the wisdom of lived experience. A place for soulful people of faith — musicians, artisans, storytellers, and sages — who have journeyed far enough to know that mystery is not the enemy of faith, but part of its unfolding.

It is a space to be real, to feast, to encourage, to share your craft, and to dwell together in the Presence of our Creator.

Find Out More

  • The Creative Call

    Expressions of Interest

    We’re looking for artists, musicians and storytellers, whose work emerges from the depths of their spiritual journey.

    If your creativity is how you wrestle with the sacred, If your faith is well-worn, wilder now, and honest, If you’ve sat long enough in silence to trust your own voice...
    We want to hear from you!

    All submissions will be reviewed with care. We’re not looking for professionals and performance—we’re looking for soul.

  • Join The Crew

    Expressions of Interest

  • Workshop Hosts

    Bring your work. Bring your wonder. Bring your wounds!

    We will be seeking deeply formed, Jesus-loving Creatives to help facilitate and host some afternoon workshops.

    We will be looking to shape workshops around Emotionally Healthy Creativity and Creativity as Sacred Practice.

    Examples of potential workshops:
    * Rewilding Your Inner World
    * Imagination as a Spiritual Discipline

    We will also be looking for a team to support a Prayer Tent & Contemplative Space
    A sanctuary for personal prayer and meditation. A still place for reflection, journaling, silent liturgy, or simply being.

  • Become A Patron

    Description goes here

If your creativity flows from your walk with God—your wrestling, your wonder, your wisdom—you belong here.

The Rhythm of the Day

Afternoon — Market Stalls & Artists Exhibitions

  • Wander through a village of market stalls filled with crafted things: pottery, woodwork, print, textiles, wild honey, leather-bound journals, and hand-inked poems.

  • Take part in workshops around Emotionally Healthy Creativity and Creativity as Sacred Practice

The Shared Table (The Feast)

  • A banquet worthy of saints and strangers: spit-roasted meats, hangi, hearth bread, and mulled wine. We eat under trees and stars, at long timber tables, with songs rising like prayers from every fire circle.

  • This is where the stories begin to rise.

Dusk — The Bard’s Hour

As twilight settles in, we light the stage—and the bonfire.

On the main stage:

  • Unplugged, stripped-back music: singer-songwriters, poets, spoken word, sharing offerings of honest beauty and holy ache.

By the fire circles:

  • Bards and storytellers will perform fireside storytelling, telling myths, parables, and modern-day psalms in the raw voice of lived experience.

These aren’t performances—they’re soul mirrors.

Night — Bonfires and Blessings

As darkness gathers, the site is lit with flame and fairy light.

On the main stage:

  • The festivities amp up a little with plugged-in musicians and bands

By the fire circles:

  • Fires blaze for community, story-swapping, and deep soul talk.

  • The marquee becomes a celestial ceilidh—with live music, dancing, and joy that overflows.