Northland news in brief

Rock band Dragon, with Northland singer Mark Williams, right, will headline March's Fritter Festival in Whangārei.

Dragon to perform at Whangārei Fritter Festival

Dragon has been announced as the headline act for the 2019 Whangārei Fritter Festival on March 16 at Northland Events Centre. The band is fronted by legendary kiwi singer Mark Williams, who hails from Northland. He is joined by bass player Todd Hunter, Canadian guitarist Bruce Reid and drummer Pete Drummond. Dragon has a long list of iconic songs including April sun in Cuba, Are you old enough, Rain and Speak no evil. Early bird tickets for Fritter Festival are available now from Eventfinda online at www.eventfinda.co.nz/go/frittertickets or from the Forum North Box Office.

Bugsy Malone

The Kerikeri Youth Theatre's production of Bugsy Malone, the famous musical gangster comedy set in prohibition-era New York, will open its season at the Turner Centre tomorrow evening, continuing on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (all 7pm), and 11am matinees on Saturday and Sunday. The show, which has a cast of 55 aged seven to 16, tells the story of the rise of Bugsy and a power struggle between rival gangsters Dandy Dan and Fat Sam. A satire of classic gangster movies, it's the first show for the Kerikeri Youth Theatre, an offshoot of the Kerikeri Theatre Company. Tickets ($28 adults, $15 students) are available at the Turner Centre box office and at www.turnercentre.co.nz

Fly My Sky

Auckland-based Fly My Sky will start a new Auckland-Whangārei-Auckland service from October 29 but none of the seats had been booked as of midday yesterday. The company is offering starting seat and bag fares from $99 one-way for the inaugural flight. Managing director Keith McKenzie said yesterday he was not too worried about a lack of booking as passengers tended to buy airfares about four days prior to departure. Fly My Sky will operate nine-seater planes to and from Whangārei.

Keven Mealamu

All Black legend Keven Mealamu will give a talk in Whangārei about his rugby experiences, values which drove his success and why he is proud of the oval ball game. The Northland Rugby Union organised event is at Northland Event Centre's Viking's Lounge from 6pm this Thursday. There will be a question and answer session after his talk. He played 132 matches for the All Blacks between 2002 and 2015.

KFC reopens

Fast food outlet KFC has reopened in Whangārei after weeks undergoing renovation. The popular eatery on Bank St initially reopened its drive-through only before the entire premises was opened for business last week.