KEY POINTS:
ROYAL EASTER SHOW
The Easter Show, which has been staged for 164 years, has become an institution on the Auckland events calendar.
It was originally an agricultural show and the event still features the A&P show and the Royal Easter Show Shears competition.
Among the familiar offerings
at the five-day event - including carnival rides, sideshows and street entertainers - the Royal Easter Cat Show is returning to the Auckland Showgrounds this year.
As well, a stage show of last year's hit animated film Over the Hedge will make its New Zealand debut, and Looney Tunes' characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck will delight children with the Looney Loot Show.
And there is Circus EGGstravaganza, with acrobats, trapeze artists, clowns and the Globe of Death.
You'll find the country's most elaborate and imaginative letterboxes on display in the Great New Zealand Letterbox Competition and the Royal Easter Art Awards will have hundreds of works for sale.
The Royal Easter Show is open today until Sunday from 9am to 9pm, and on Easter Monday from 9am to 6pm, at the Auckland Showgrounds, Greenlane.
Tickets: adults $16; children 12 and under $6; under 2, free; students and superannuitants, $11; family of 5, $36.
Further details at royaleastershow.co.nz
FAMILY
This Easter Saturday Essex Reserve Park in Mt Eden hosts an afternoon of egg-cellent (sorry) entertainment for kids aged 4-10. Hop To It: Eggs In Eden Bunny Bonanza, starts at 12.30pm with Madam Clucka telling Easter tales from her nest. Throughout the event you can make your own genetically engineered giant egg, have your face turned into an Easter Bunny, and enjoy the sounds of DJ Hare. Other fun includes egg and spoon races and arts and crafts. If it rains the event will shift to the Methodist Church Hall, Ngauruhoe St.
* Hop To It: Eggs In Eden Bunny Bonanza - Essex Reserve Park, Saturday, 12.30pm
LEARN
There's a lot on offer at this year's Easter Show, but for something extra special, track down the Treaty 2 U exhibition if you can. The touring exhibition will have been viewed by around 60,000 New Zealanders when it closes in May, and it aims to educate about arguably the most important document in New Zealand history, the Treaty of Waitangi. If you know next to nothing about the Treaty then exhibition hosts are on hand to answer and explain as much as possible.
* Treaty 2 U Exhibition Easter Show, until Monday, ASB Showgrounds
FAMILY
Australian entertainers Hi 5 are in New Zealand these school holidays, and it's all go this time around with the show based on the theme of Live Action Heroes. Hi-5 heroes, Nathan Foley, Charli Delaney, Tim Harding, Kellie Hoggart and Sun Park are set to entertain and delight. Puppets, racing cars, superhero outfits, hip-hop dancing and more will feature on this national tour.
* The stars of Hi-5 will also be making appearances at Westfield Shopping Centres in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.Hi-5 - Civic Theatre, Auckland, Wednesday; Founders Theatre, Hamilton, April 14; Regent Theatre, Palmerston North, April 16; Performing Arts Centre, Hastings, April 17
BLUES
Since his first chart hit in 1969, blues man Tony Joe White has had a lengthy career, and worked with some of the finest musicians of his time. Over the years White has toured with James Taylor, written for Tina Turner and collaborated with Eric Clapton, to name but a few. He visits New Zealand for two shows in the coming days, including a gig at Auckland's Powerstation on Wednesday. Most recently he has released The Heroines and his new album Uncovered on his own label, Swamp Records.
* Tony Joe White Civic Theatre, Christchurch, Tuesday; Powerstation, Mt Eden, Wednesday
FAMILY
If your kids (or flatmates) find doing the dishes or cleaning the bathroom too difficult to attempt, take them along to Motat these school holidays and show them how easy they have it these days. The Never Done exhibition heads back to colonial New Zealand, a time without dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, or even electricity. Kids can try sewing, make old-fashioned boiled lollies, and enjoy horse-drawn carriage rides which happen throughout the day. It's like that bad British reality TV show, but in this case you only have to be there for a day.
* Never Done - Motat, Western Springs, from Friday to April 22, 10am - 4pm daily
JAZZ/ART
Every Easter Saturday for the past five years jazz and art lovers have visited Rakino Island to enjoy the annual Jazz and Art Picnic beside the beach at Sandy Bay. This year's artists include vocalists Caitlin Smith, Jenny Eirena, Katia McKenzie, saxophonist James Langabeer, French guitarist Jean-Pierre Druinaud, Latin jazz band Zingaro, and Auckland jazz bands the Neil Watson Three and Prohibition Big Band. There's an art exhibition featuring local artists and plenty of entertainment for the kids.
* Rakino Island Jazz and Art Picnic - Sandy Bay, Rakino Island, 10.30am-5.30pm. Ferries depart from Quay St, Devonport and Pine Harbour throughout the day
FAMILY
The zoo is always a guaranteed winner for school holiday malarkey with the kids, and Auckland Zoo's April programme is all about camouflage. There are three interactive daily shows, hosted by resident camouflage expert and cheetah detective Furrlock Bones. If you have ever mistaken a stick for stick insect you'll know the power of camouflage, so let the kids in on the many ways animals attempt to keep to themselves, hide from predators, and stalk their prey.
* Camouflage Crazy! Auckland Zoo, Friday to April 22
PUNK
Punk fans are in for a special treat over two nights this weekend at Newton's Kings Arms. The UK Subs were part of the original punk rock movement in England in the 1970s, achieving some mainstream success with seven consecutive UK Top 30 hits and two top 10 albums between 1979-81. Led by founding member Charlie Harper, the band has been touring for 25 years but has never made it to New Zealand. Get along to witness a slice of punk history.
* UK Subs - Kings Arms, Friday, doors 7pm, tickets $27 on the door or at Real Groovy; Saturday, doors 8pm, tickets $27 from Real Groovy only
FAMILY
From Monday, Takapuna's Bruce Mason Centre hosts the Phineas Phrog production of classic tale, Sleeping Beauty. Enjoy magic, music, mayhem, fairies, a napping princess and the rest. This is another ideal way to fill up the days with the kids at home. You can be sure the whole family will live happily ever after at the end of this show or at least be entertained for a few hours. It's an easy $10 a ticket, and the show happens twice a day from Tuesday.
* Sleeping Beauty - Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Monday, noon; Tuesday-next Friday 10am & noon