Best of Labour Weekend

BEST TRIP OUT OF TOWN

Without the hassle of travel ... Getting There ... is Half the Fun is the Film Archive's way of reminding us that going away for a long weekend used to be a kinder, gentler thing.

Based on the theme of holiday car travel, the show includes stills, maps, touring guides and film extracts, including a 1930s introduction to the marvels of the caravan. Wonderful.

Film Archive, 300 Karangahape Rd, today 11am-4pm; free. Film Archive; ph (09) 379 0628

BEST HIP-HOP KAPA HAKA

Mika's quest to find top young dancers to take on tour internationally continues, with the Auckland Central heat of his Toatoa Urban Maori Pacific Dance Champs on tonight at the Grey Lynn Community Centre. Two dancers are chosen from each heat, with the overall winner chosen at the Grand Final at The Edge, November 8. While entrants have already registered, support in the form of a boisterous audience is needed.

Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Rd, today, 7pm. Mika; ph (09) 360 0646

BEST IRISH PIANO PLAYER

Charismatic Irish pianist Barry Douglas is a treat to watch as well as to listen to. He joins the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra tonight, under the baton of Matthias Bamert, to deliver Mozart's elegant Piano Concerto No 21 and, most exciting, the rare opportunity to experience Oliver Messiaen's stunning Turangalila-symphonie, with its Balinese gamelan influences and huge percussion section.

Auckland Town Hall, tonight, 8pm; tickets from $20 via Ticketek ph (09) 307 5000

BEST ACTORS OF THE FUTURE

Unitec's crop of graduates from its performing and screen arts degree show what they can do. Shakespeare's Othello - a Tongan Moor played by John Tui - is at the intimate Kingsland Central space, with Elric Hooper directing. At Unitec Theatre, Elizabeth Hawthorne directs Louisa May, a play written by Ros Gardner about Little Women creator Louisa May Alcott.

Kingsland Central, 5 Central Rd, Kingsland; Unitec Theatre, Unitec, Carrington Rd, both tonight 8pm. From $10, ph (09) 815 3094

BEST RIDE INDOORS

A chance to see The Datsuns, whose reputation as a stonking live act is second to none. With Australian rockers the Casanovas in support, the boys from Cambridge end their NZ tour tonight. After two years on the international touring circuit, this will be a blow-out before hibernating in a recording studio. Two NME covers, No 1 album here, stacks of Tuis and bNet awards, and tickets priced with restraint.

Tonight St James Theatre, $32, from Ticketek and Real Groovy