Kawakawa's Concert at the Station returns on May 1 with a lineup of Northland talent ranging from kapa haka to women's barbershop, country and blues.
The concert is traditionally held on the railway station platform with the audience seated in carriages and around the tracks, but this year - after an earlier attempt was postponed due to rain - it will be held inside the railway workshop instead.
The show kicks off at 3pm on Sunday, May 1. Performers include Bella a Capella, Zoe King-Samuels, Wallace Johnson, TBK, Shilo Barbarich and Carleen Still.
Far North Mayor John Carter will MC the event and railway operations manager Mike "the Steam" Bradshaw will give an update on the restoration of the line to Opua.
Entry is $10 for adults, $5 children and $25 for a family pass. Bring your own seating. The concert is one of the main fundraisers for the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust.
Piupiu fundraiser
The kapa haka group at Bay of Islands College has launched a fundraising campaign for 20 new piupiu (flax skirts).
Tutor Jasmine Maunsell said the group's current uniforms were more than 20 years old and showing their age. The cheapest good-quality piupiu she had been able to find cost $300 so the total could come to $6000.
"It is quite a lot but the piupiu we have now have been here for over 20 years and a few of them are in a state," she said.
Go to givealittle.co.nz/cause/bayofislandskapahakagroup to donate. The group also has a Facebook page called Bay of Islands College Kapa Haka Group Supporters & Sponsors Group.
Anzac exhibition
Among the many Anzac Day events coming up in the Mid North this weekend is an exhibition of historic photos, war memorabilia and taonga in Kaeo's Whangaroa Community Hall.
The show focuses on the service of Whangaroa soldiers but in particular Major William Porter, a Kaeo taxi driver who became the commander of A Company of the 28th Maori Battalion. He was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross after leading an attack that captured and destroyed 16 German machine gun posts in the North African desert in 1942.
Members of Major Porter's whanau will take part in the opening at 5pm this Friday. The free exhibition will run until the end of Anzac Day.
Look out Peter Jackson
A two-day filmmaking workshop in South Hokianga aims to foster local talent and encourage aspiring movie makers.
The Storytelling for the Screen workshop runs from April 28-29 with an overnight stay and short film evening at Matai Aranui Marae in Whirinaki.
The goal is to give rangatahi (youth) aged 15-plus the tools to take stories from their communities and turn them into films, but adults are welcome too.
Speakers include writer/director Michael Bennett and producer Quinton Hita.
Contact Eloise on eloise@script-to-screen.co.nz or call (09) 360 5400 for more information. There is no charge but a koha of $10 is suggested. The workshop, which is suitable for all experience levels, is the first of three planned in Hokianga in 2016.
Around Cape Horn
This month's public event at the Museum of Waitangi's Learning Centre is a screening of Around Cape Horn.
The footage from the bark Peking's historic sailing voyage from Germany around Cape Horn to Valparaiso was filmed in 1929 by young sailor Irving Johnson with his narration added years later.
The screening from 2pm on April 24 is free for Friends of Waitangi and day pass holders. Public events - including lectures, film screenings and musical performances - are held in the Learning Centre on the last Sunday of every month.
Quiz night
The Kaikohe Fire Brigade is holding another quiz night to raise funds for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.
The quiz will be at the Kaikohe RSA from 7pm on Saturday, April 30. Entry $10 per person; each team can have up to six members. If you don't have a team you can join one on the night.
To register call Aimee on 021 135 0886 or email aimeeruka@vodafone.co.nz.
The brigade is entering a team of six in the Sky Tower Challenge, in which firefighters compete to climb the tower's 1103 steps while weighed down with 25kg of firefighting gear and also to raise the most money for charity.
The Kaikohe brigade won the community spirit trophy last year, their first time in the challenge.
Community centre opens
The long-awaited Bay of Island Community Centre is now up and running in the back rooms of the War Memorial Hall on Williams Rd in Paihia.
The committee is busy organising programmes to kick off in May but a seniors' coffee morning - just turn up for a coffee and a chat - is already under way every Thursday from 10am, along with a "mums and bubs" coffee morning every Tuesday from 10am. Literacy courses will be held on Tuesday afternoons and plans are afoot for a men's shed, a "messy church" and a youth group.
For updates or to get involved see the Bay of Islands Community Centre Facebook page.
Amazonian expert visits
An expert from the Amazon is coming to Otiria Marae, Moerewa, to talk about his work tackling the social and environmental problems facing indigenous peoples.
British-born but now living in Brazil, Dr Dan Baron Cohen is a playwright, arts educator and "cultural activist" who has spent the past decade working with landless, indigenous and trade-union communities in Brazil, Peru, Chile, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.
He will be one of the guest speakers at a hui called The Otiria River Talks from 9.30am-1.30pm tomorrow, Thursday 21. The hui is described as a "social intervention to uplift, inspire and transform our community, cultural ecological practices and unique identity".
Dr Baron Cohen is a cousin of the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen known for his roles as Ali G and Borat.
New website
Conservation group Bay Bush Action has a fancy new website built by one of the trustees at www.baybushaction.org.nz. The new site includes up-to-date body count of pests killed so far in the forest behind Paihia and Opua, details of the group's many and varied projects, maps of its trap lines, and more.
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