Things to do in Auckland this weekend: Festive season begins with Christmas events, concerts and more

The annual Famers Santa Parade returns to central Auckland this weekend. Photo / Darryl Morgan Photography

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Tāmaki Makaurau as the city centre gets into the spirit with the inaugural tree-lighting ceremony and the Farmers Santa Parade both taking place this weekend.

If you’re not ready to jump on the Polar Express to Christmas town just yet, there are plenty of other ways to entertain yourselves this weekend including a one-day arts festival, free dance workshops, a water conservation day, Crowded House, the NZSO and a journey into outer space.

1) Farmers Santa Parade - Auckland CBD

On Sunday the big guy in red will be making his grand entrance down Queen St, delighting little people and triggering much nostalgia for bigger people as well. Generations of Aucklanders have attended this classic Christmas event, this year marking the 91st parade. While Santa has remained a constant, the parade has evolved throughout the years adding new floats and characters and retiring others as times have changed. Added to the line-up this year is the biggest children’s television icon of the 2020s, Bluey, and a float made entirely of Lego®. Olympian Hamish Kerr will be opening festivities which includes pre-parade entertainment, the parade proper - an hour-long procession of floats and performers - and Santa’s after party in Aotea Square. As always, you need to make a transport plan, bring sunhats and raincoats - this is Tāmaki Makaurau after all - and don’t forget your Christmas spirit, no Grinches allowed.

When: Sunday November 24, 12pm-1pm (pre-entertainment), 1pm-2pm (parade), 2.30pm - 5pm (Santa’s party).

Where: Starts on the corner of Federal St and Mayoral Drive, travelling down Queen St, ending at Customs St East, Auckland Central.

Price: Free.

2) ‘A Niu Dawn’ - Henderson

This Saturday, Te Pou Theatre and Corban Estate Arts Centre will truly be brimming with cutting-edge creative talent for The Guerilla Collection’s one-day festival A Niu Dawn. It’s a celebration of Moana Oceania artists and community groups who have made Aotearoa their home and base for their diverse artistic practices since the Dawn Raids in the 1970s. Throughout the day there will be a series of 30-minute original works run on the hour as well as live music, food trucks, a children’s programme and free health information. Behind A Niu Dawn is Black Grace founding member Neil Ieremia ONZM, playwright Leki Jackson-Bourke and Faiumu Matthew Salapu (aka Anonymouz). The day will feature performances by Anapela Polata’ivao, Vela Manusaute, South Auckland Pacific Dance Theatre Company Sau E Siva Creatives, Pacific Theatre Company Strictly Brown, poet Daren Kamali, Tuvaluan dancer Molia Alama-Tulufono, film-makers Benji Timu and Josiah Tualamalili, and a new work by Neil Ieremia for Black Grace. You’re bound to leave this event creatively inspired and in awe of the remarkable artists with roots all across the Pacific who call Aotearoa home.

When: Saturday November 23, 10am-8.30pm.

Where: Te Pou Theatre, 2 Mt Lebanon Lane, Henderson, Auckland.

Price: Free.

A Niu Dawn is a unique one-day festival run by The Guerilla Collection that celebrates the diversity of Pasifika culture in Aotearoa. Photo / The Guerilla Collection

3) Crowded House - Auckland CBD

You probably don’t need us to tell you that Aotearoa’s most successful band, Crowded House, is playing Spark Arena on Saturday night, but what you may not know is that there are still a few tickets for the procrastinators and/or the spontaneous among you. The Gravity Stairs tour, supporting the band’s latest album which was released earlier this year, finishes up its New Zealand leg in Tāmaki Makaurau before setting sail for Australia. Local indie-folk darling Mel Parsons is opening for the band before Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Mitchell Froom, Elroy Finn and Liam Finn take the stage as the current incarnation of Crowded House. Auckland has had its fair share of big international artists the last few weeks but Crowded House is the only one we can call our own - we know it will be an unforgettable night.

When: Saturday November 23, 7pm.

Where: Spark Arena, 42/80 Mahuhu Cres, Auckland Central.

Price: Tickets start at $159.90 + booking fees from ticketmaster.co.nz

Crowded House are performing at Spark Arena on Saturday night.

4) Free Dance Workshops With Prowl Productions - Auckland CBD

If you’ve ever fancied yourself a bit of a bad mama jama on the D-floor then this is your opportunity to show off your skills while learning some tips and tricks from the best in the bizz. Waacking and street dance company Prowl Productions are hosting an afternoon of free dance workshops at Kinetic Dance Studio in the city on Saturday. There are three sessions: contemporary with Ella Rerekura, waacking with Hayley Walters-Tekahika and vogueing with Nathan Waqalevu. Do one workshop or do them all, it’ll be a fun and inclusive environment where you can unleash your inner Sasha Fierce and become the dance diva you were born to be.

When: Saturday November 23, 12.30pm (contemporary), 2.15pm (waacking) and 4pm (vogue).

Where: Kinetic Dance Studio, 18/20 Lorne St, Auckland CBD.

Price: Free.

Prowl Productions is holding three free dance workshops at Kinetic Dance Studio this weekend.

5) The Lighting of Te Manaaki - Auckland CBD

It’s about time Auckland got an official Christmas tree-lighting event, all the best cities in the world have them. This Saturday is the inaugural lighting of Te Manaaki, the giant Christmas tree in Te Komititanga on lower Queen St. It’s 18.4 metres tall and has over 10,000 LED lights ready to illuminate the city square. To mark the occasion there’s going to be entertainment from Anika Moa, Tami Neilson and the Auckland Youth Choir. Heart of the City, Precinct Properties and Auckland Council hope the tree lighting will become an annual tradition for Auckland whānau to enjoy together and officially usher in the Christmas season.

When: Saturday November 23, 7pm.

Where: Te Komititanga, lower Queen St, Auckland Central.

Price: Free. Visit heartofthecity.co.nz for more information.

Head down to Te Komititanga in lower Queen St to watch the inaugural lighting of the city's Christmas tree, Te Manaaki. Photo / Babiche Martens

6) A Year In Space - Epsom

Just as Spotify turns the microcosm that is your personal listening habits into an annual Wrapped report, Stardome has turned the macrocosm that is the known universe into a 50-minute Planetarium experience. Earlier this week Stardome launched its The Year in Space 2024 show, which is a showcase of all that has happened beyond Earth’s stratosphere this year including auroras, comets, meteor showers, eclipses and those two astronauts who took the Starliner for an eight-day spin back in June and are still stranded in space. Included in the presentation is some incredible astrophotography from the finalists of the NZ Astrophotography Competition and remarkable images from the James Webb Space Telescope. If the chaos of the looming Christmas season is driving you a little batty, The Year in Space could be just the perspective shift that you need.

When: November 21-December 22 (not nightly, see stardome.org.nz for scheduled screenings).

Where: Stardome, 670 Manukau Rd, Epsom, Auckland.

Price: Tickets $18 adult; $15 child, students and seniors from stardome.org.nz

Stardome is hosting scheduled screenings of their The Year in Space 2024 show from November 21 to December 22. Photo / Richard Parsonson Cinedesign Ltd.

7) Santa at Westfield - Various locations

It’s a truly hectic time of year for Santa who has to be at hundreds of places representing his workshop and elves all at once. Thank goodness for Christmas magic which is making it possible for him to be at multiple Westfields not to mention a parade or two at the same time. You can take the kids in to meet Santa and get their photograph taken at Westfield Manukau, St Lukes, Newmarket or Albany any time from now until Christmas eve and this year they’ve got a slate of different options including an NZ Sign Language Santa, sessions for pets, sessions for people with sensory needs and more. There’s an online booking system now to mitigate the risk of waiting in line for hours on end only to discover that Santa’s going on smoko when you get to the front of the queue. Get in early to avoid the mall mayhem of December and get that Christmas souvenir that whether the kids are smiling, grimacing or crying is always a keeper.

When: Open now until December 24.

Where: Westfields throughout Tāmaki Makaurau.

Price: Visit westfield.co.nz for bookings.

Take the kids to any Westfield over the next month to snap a photo with Santa Clause himself.

8) ‘The Planets’: Elgar and Holst - Auckland CBD

Classical music enthusiasts, there are still a few remaining tickets for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Holst’s The Planets on Saturday night. The orchestra is excited to be joined for the evening by one of the world’s most highly-regarded violinists, Christian Tetzlaff from Germany, who will also be performing Elgar’s Violin Concerto. NZSO conductor Gemma New is opening the concert with the New Zealand premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s 2005 work Asteroid 4179: Toutatis, which was written as a contemporary companion piece to The Planets. Adding haunting vocals, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir will join the NZSO during Neptune - The Mystic.

When: Saturday November 23, 7.30pm.

Where: Auckland Town Hall, Queen St, Auckland Central.

Price: Tickets start at $39 + booking fees from ticketmaster.co.nz

Christian Tetzlaff, from Germany, will join the NZSO for their Saturday performance at Auckland Town Hall. Photo / Giorgia Bertazzi

9) Rain or Shine: Waterwise Homes and Gardens Day - New Lynn

As we stare down the barrel of a potentially dry summer, it’s more important than ever to consider our water use. EcoMatters is holding a day of workshops and discussions on Saturday to help Aucklanders think about the ways in which we can both protect the environment and save money by reducing our water use. There are sessions on household water-saving tips, DIY rainwater harvesting, native landscapes and gardens and DIY “sponge” gardens. It’s a great opportunity to get together with like-minded members of the community to learn and discuss how you can make your home and garden more resilient to flooding and drought. You can attend one workshop or all four, some are free and some are on a pay-what-you-can-afford basis.

When: Saturday November 23, 10.30am-3pm.

Where: EcoMatters Environment Trust, 1 Olympic Place, New Lynn, Auckland.

Price: Tickets $5-$15 from humanitix.com

EcoMatters is holding a day of workshops and discussions on Saturday in New Lynn to educate Aucklanders around how to reduce their water use to help save money and the environment.