Head on down for a Sunday session at the Auckland Botanic Gardens, with delicious kai and a pop-up bar on offer. Photo / PM Creatives
Head on down for a Sunday session at the Auckland Botanic Gardens, with delicious kai and a pop-up bar on offer. Photo / PM Creatives
You’ve got the whole weekend to try out some of these epic events happening across Tāmaki Makaurau.
The days might be getting shorter, but that shouldn’t stop you. With daylight savings mere weeks away, plenty is still happening during light hours, with more to come when the sun goes down.
Check out what’s happening in and around the city this weekend, from music in the Botanic Gardens, to pop-up water parks, to a festival centred around environmental conservation and sustainability.
1) Ecofest – Various locations
The month-long Ecofest began on March 15. Photo / EcoFest
It’s never too late to start learning more about the environment or upping your conservation game and Ecofest wants to help. The month-long festival launched yesterday, March 15, and includes a range of events, activities, installations and workshops across Tāmaki Makaurau. This weekend alone you can attend a pest education session, native plant workshop, a sustainable market, composting workshop, plant swap, environmental working bees, recycle your e-waste, take an “EcoYoga” class and much more. Most of the events are free to attend and you’ll come away with new tools and newfound motivation to become the best kaitiaki or caretaker you can be of this country and planet we call ours. Plus, you’ll have fun doing it.
When: March 15-April 14.
Where: Various locations across Tāmaki Makaurau.
Price: Visit ecofest.org.nz for the full schedule of events.
2) Trams at Motat - Western Springs
The full fleet of heritage trams will be operating on Sunday at Motat. Photo / Motat
One of the highlights of a visit to Motat is taking the tram ride from the Aviation Hall to the Great North Rd site, complete with an old-fashioned ticket collector clipping tickets. If you too love the tram experience then head along on Sunday when the full fleet of heritage trams will be operational for a Motat Live Day. There’ll be Tram 47, a double-decker affectionately known as Big Ben, a rare steam-powered Tram 100, and several Australian and New Zealand heritage electric trams. Visitors can track their rides with Tram Tracker cards and enjoy the Lollyman, Blacksmith, Print Shop, Little Flick and live music all happening for the Live Day. It’s a fun event that may well make you mourn the loss of Auckland’s tram lines.
Before the days get short and chilly, make the most of the last little skerrick of summer and head to the seaside — specifically Okahu Bay — where this weekend the Akarana Marine Sports Charitable Trust and the Ōrakei Local Board are joining forces for Splash Landing. The two-day whānau event offers face painting, bouncy castles, food trucks, a garden bar and live entertainment on The Landing, as well as the opportunity to get on the water and try out waka ama, sailing or kayaking. The Waterworld inflatable water park will also be onsite, though you’ll need to book that separately. Take your togs, we’ve got our fingers and toes crossed that the weather gods play ball and the inaugural Splash Landing is a roaring success.
When: March 16 and 17, 11am-6pm.
Where: The Landing, 8 Tāmaki Drive, Ōrākei, Auckland.
Price: Free. Visit wipeout.co.nz to book a Waterworld session.
4) Sunday Session at the Botanic Gardens - The Gardens
There are few better ways to spend a Sunday afternoon than chilling and milling at one of Auckland’s most underrated attractions, the Botanic Gardens, but this weekend it’s going to the next level. The Food Truck Collective is rolling into the gardens so you can chill, mill and fill your puku with delicious kai from the likes of Woodspirit, Hash n Smash, Taste of Rwanda, Double Dutch Fries, The Corner, Vege Bang Bang and Ice Cream Social. There’ll be a pop-up bar serving Karma Soda, Behemoth Beers, Red Bull and Pals, and a buzzing community atmosphere. It’s not a BYOB event so leave your sneaky hip flasks and cheeky bottles of bubbles at home. Limited parking on site so make the most of Auckland’s public transport if you can.
When: March 17, noon-4pm.
Where: Auckland Botanic Gardens, 102 Hill Rd, The Gardens, Auckland.
An event celebrating 150 years of Auckland Fire Brigade is being held at The Cloud, Queen's Wharf. Photo / Motat
Firefighting enthusiasts, big or small, should head to The Cloud on Sunday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Auckland Fire Brigade. There’ll be a range of fire trucks and equipment dating to the 1800s, including an exhibit from Motat featuring the first Ford V8 bought by the New Zealand Fire Service, as well as turntable ladders, pumping appliances, telescopic ladders, and a control car used by officers to attend fire emergencies. In addition, Fire and Emergency’s specialist High Angle Rescue and Urban Search and Rescue (Usar) teams will be on hand to provide demonstrations. You can also explore exhibitions of archival materials, profiles of trailblazing firefighters, and interactive activities and educational resources on fire safety. Mosey on down and support the people you hope you never have to call but are mighty grateful they exist.
When: March 17, 10am-3pm.
Where: The Cloud, Queen’s Wharf, Auckland CBD.
Price: Free.
6) A Bit Further Afield: Black Grace
Contemporary dance company, Black Grace, will be performing in Wellington and Christchurch this month. Photo / Toaki Okano Photography
If you’re in Christchurch this weekend or Wellington next week, this one’s for you. Contemporary dance company Black Grace is nothing short of a national treasure and choreographer Neil Ieremia an undisputed genius. Having recently returned from a tour of the United States, the company is home to stage their latest work, Paradise Rumour, which premiered in Auckland in May 2023. This is one of the company’s most powerful performances yet, telling a story of colonisation and the experience of (and response to) Pasifika peoples in New Zealand. It’s an extension of Ieremia’s 2009 work Gathering Clouds, which was a response to an economist’s controversial and much-derided 2008 discussion paper “Growing Pains: The valuation and cost of human capital and the impact of Pacific migration on the New Zealand economy”. With a score by sound artist Anonymouz, aka Faiumu Matthew Salpu, this is sure to be a performance that won’t just move audiences, but will challenge them to rethink the way they see their country.
When: March 17, 5pm (Christchurch) and March 22, 7.30pm (Wellington).
Where: Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch, and St James Theatre, Wellington.
Price: Tickets from $59 Wellington via Ticketmaster and $64.80 Christchurch via Ticketek.
Next Week: The O.Gs
The O.Gs. Photo / Jinki Cambronero
Here’s one to put in your diary for next week: The O.Gs. There’s only one performance and, if you have even the tiniest sliver of interest in opera, you’re going to want a ticket. It’s the brainchild of writer, producer, director, choreographer and operatic tenor Siliga Sani Muliaumaseali’i and is a showcase of the first wave of Pasifika opera singers: The O.Gs. Performing alongside Muliaumaseali’i is a wildly talented cast that includes Aivale Cole, Ben Makisi, Eddie Muliaumaseali’i, Lotte Latukefu and Deborah Wai Kapohe. They’ll perform music by Bellini, Mozart, Verdi, Strauss, Gershwin, Sondheim and others and share their stories from the Pacific Islands to some of the most important operatic stages in the world. It will no doubt be a spellbinding afternoon of music and Pasifika opera history.
Earth Beat Festival in Ātiu Creek Regional Park. Photo / Mili Villamil
If you’re feeling in need of disconnecting from the rat race and reconnecting with other humans, the environment and yourself, then Earth Beat Festival is calling your name. The five-day event starts on Wednesday at Ātiu Creek Regional Park, a 75-minute drive from the CBD, and is abundant with live music from local and international artists performing reggae to jazz to electronic and more. Beyond the music, there’s a bounty of talks, presentations and workshops including various types of dance, theatre, haka, yoga, singing, permaculture, activism and mātauranga. There are three-day and five-day passes as well as single-day passes for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with camping — and glamping — available on-site. Earth Beat Aotearoa has some guiding principles that include words such as caring, love, inclusivity, oneness, wairua, joy and lightness. If that sounds like an environment you’d like to embrace and be embraced by then get tickets pronto.
When: March 20-24.
Where: Ātiu Creek Regional Park, 414 Run Rd, Auckland.
Price: Tickets start from $80. Visit earthbeatfestival.com for more information and tickets.
