Friendly and Rungus!
Punkfest returned to Wellington over Labour Weekend 2026, marking 30 years since the city’s first Punkfest. The anniversary drew a decent sized crowd spanning a long stretch of ‘terminal punk lifers’.
The three-day festival was organised by local label Razored Raw, run by Matai Szwed (currently of No Sector and Maced). Friday and Saturday were held at the Barrel Brothers bar on Constable Street in Newtown. Sunday was an all-ages show in the town belt at the top of Owen Street, at the new Kahukura park, in what was apparently the first live show held there.
The festival billed 18 bands, plus DJs and markets. Sixteen of the bands came from around Aotearoa, and two, Katorga and Szklo, made a return trip to NZ from Australia. As with previous Punkfests a range of styles was included on the lineup mixing the pop-punk of Out of Luck and Cootie Cuties with the extreme noise punk of Noxo, the grindcore of Maced, Forced Starvation and Postnatal Abortion and the anarcho-punk of Unsanitary Napkin and Fog.
Audio
A compilation featuring all 18 bands was released to accompany Punkfest 2026. The digital download version features 25 tracks and an edited tape version, limited to 30 copies, was also released by Limbless Music.
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Friday, October 23
Check out more videos of Friday night bands on Andy’s channel below.
Saturday, October 24
Check out more videos of Saturday night bands on Andy’s channel below.
