Friday, May 2 to Sunday, May 4:
- Get ready for the Cuban Weekender 2025 in Tauranga! Enjoy workshops, fiestas, and performances at the Elizabeth Street Community & Arts Centre and Papamoa Sports and Recreation Centre. Full Festival Passes are available for $260.10.
- The Tauranga Home Show, the largest home and lifestyle event in the Bay of Plenty, will be held from May 2-4, 2025, at Mercury Baypark Arena. Enjoy live entertainment, over 300 exhibitors, and a chance to win a Relax spa from Poolpac.
Saturday, May 3:
- The Red Stag Rotorua Marathon from 8am to 8.30pm in Rotorua offers a stunning race experience through geothermal landscapes, lush forests, and scenic lakesides. Whether you’re running the full marathon, half marathon, 12km, 5km, Runway5, or Runway Mile, this event promises breathtaking views and a celebration of achievement and the outdoors.
- Join The Honest Liars for a night of hilarious, unscripted comedy improv at the 16th Avenue Theatre in Tauranga on at 7.30pm. Tickets are $16.58, and the show is R18.
- Try Drag Queen Bingo at Club Mount Maunganui from 7.30pm to 9pm. Enjoy three competitive rounds of bingo with fantastic prizes, hosted by vibrant drag queens for a unique and entertaining experience.
- Experience the magic of Mount Maunganui by moonlight at “We Run The Night” from 6pm to 9pm. Choose from 21km, 10km, or 5km distances and enjoy a flat, fast course along the beautiful beaches.
- The Little Big Markets Winter Series is back at Coronation Park, Mount Maunganui from 9am to 2pm to enjoy local stalls, gourmet street food, live music, and free workshops. Free admission for all ages.
- Join the Friends of the Rotorua Library for a book sale at Kuirau Park from 9am to 1pm. Browse a variety of books, music, jigsaws, and magazines, with funds supporting library projects. Free admission for all ages.
Sunday, May 4:
- Car Boot Sale for Rotary Club of Otumoetai 7.30am for sellers and 8am for buyers at Car Boot Sale at the college car park on Windsor Rd to raise funds for Otumoetai Rotary. Sellers $10 a space. Electronic and Appliance recycling. Fees apply. Details Brian 021 1228735 Bevan 027 4612127.
- Join us for the annual Rotorua Jazz Club Local Showcase celebrating May Music Month: Amazing talent of the Sue Brown Quartet featuring Keey Fremm, AJ Moke and Sam Rainey, the JPC jazz combo, Toi Ohomai music students and vocalist Wayne Wright. Rotorua Citizens Club 4.30pm to 8pm, $30 casual, $20 members, $5 students.
- Check out the solo piano performance by Liam Wooding at Baycourt X Space, Tauranga, at 4pm. Enjoy a varied programme featuring works by Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Gershwin, and Liszt. Tickets are available for all ages.
Tuesday, May 6 to Thursday, May 8: TRENZ 2025, New Zealand’s largest international tourism business event, will be held from May 6-8 at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre. This event brings together international travel buyers and New Zealand’s leading tourism operators for three days of networking and business negotiations.
Tuesday, May 6: Join us for Green Drinks from 5.30pm at Level 13, 1141 Eruera St. Hear from Adrian ‘Bev’ Bebbington of Aotearoa Dive and Kim McGrouther from Scion about litter in our lakes and efforts to clean it up. Talks start at 6pm.
Wednesday, May 7 to Saturday, May 10: Experience the magic of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, performed by the talented students of Tauranga Boys’ College and Tauranga Girls’ College, from May 7 to 10. Enjoy a modern twist on the classic fairytale with tickets starting at $19.45.
Saturday, May 10:
- Join us for the Parksyde Variety Concert from 6pm to 8pm at Parksyde Community Centre, 9 Tarewa Place. Tickets are by minimum donation of $20 on sale at Parksyde reception, open 9am–3pm weekdays. For queries, call 348 9892.
- Get ready, Rotorua! Heath Franklin’s Chopper: ‘The Last Hard Bastard on Earth’ is coming to the Sir Owen Glenn Theatre on Saturday, May 10th at 7pm. Recommended for ages 15 and up.
Sunday, May 11 to Sunday, May 18: Rotorua’s inaugural Wellness Week, presented by Look After Me and the Hindu Heritage Centre, runs from May 11-18, 2025. This event offers a variety of self-care practices and wellbeing experiences, featuring yoga, meditation, massage, wellness markets, and more, at the Hindu Heritage Centre.
Thursday, May 15: Join us for the Parksyde Breakfast Fundraiser from 7.45am to 9.20am at Parksyde Community Centre. Guest speaker Vittoria Shortt, CEO of ASB Bank, will discuss “Progress During Turbulent Times.” Tickets are $38 per person. For inquiries, call 021 275 8034.
Thursday, May 15 and Saturday May 17: Marlon Williams announces the Te Whare Tīwekaweka album tour of Aotearoa, featuring his first Māori language album. Catch him with The Yarra Benders and special guests on Thursday at Holy Trinity, Tauranga, and Saturday at Sir Howard Morrison Centre, Rotorua. Tickets go on sale at 12pm on Wednesday, March 5.
Sunday, May 18: Te Puna Quarry Park is hosting a plant sale from 10am to 1pm. Entry is free with garden and indoor plants for sale plus pots, crafty gifts, tools and preserves.
Wednesday, May 21: The Royal Family Dance Crew brings their Honour The Crown show to Baycourt on Wednesday, 21 May at 7pm. Witness all their iconic sets from the past 14 years in a performance of precision, power, and pure entertainment. Tickets start at $53.25.
Saturday, May 23 and Sunday, May 24: Women on the Fly (WoTF) and Eastern Fish & Game will host a women’s fly fishing workshop at The Hatchery in Ngongotahā. The event is for beginners, offering small learning groups and experienced mentors. For more information, contact Jill Sweeney, WoTF NZ Regional Co-ordinator.
Thursday, May 22 to Sunday, May 25: “I Am Still Here,” written and directed by Jack Grace, is a poignant story about dementia. Join Makaia and Maraia as they celebrate their mum Ihipera’s 60th birthday, revealing a profound journey of courage and hope. All shows are followed by a Q&A session with Dementia Lakes and the cast.
June
Friday, June 6: Join us for BATTLE CHORUS: DISCO at 9pm at Baycourt Tauranga’s, Whare Matarau / X Space. Form teams, learn disco choruses, and compete in a fun, retro-themed sing-along battle!
Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20: Gather at Kouramāwhitiwhiti (Rotorua Lakefront) for the Aronui Arts Festival’s new drone show, starting at 8pm each night. This free event features hundreds of drones creating a stunning blend of light, sound, and narration to honour those who have passed, accompanied by the Rotorua Night Market from 5pm to 9pm.
Saturday, June 28: Catch Devilskin’s Re-Evolution Tour 2025 with special guests Villainy and Midwave Breaks at the Stadium Lounge, Mount Maunganui, on Saturday, 28 June. Tickets available at devilskin.co.nz.
Regular events
Activities at Parksyde Community Centre:
Mondays:
- 8.30am: Pilates ($8 per class)
- 2.30pm: Seated Aerobics ($7 per class)
Tuesdays:
- 9.30am: Zumba ($8 per class)
- 1.30pm: Strength and Balance Class ($7 per class)
Wednesdays:
- 9am: Tai Chi ($10 per class)
- 11.15am: Pilates ($8 per class)
Thursdays:
- 1pm: Strength and Balance Class ($7 per class)
- 2.30pm: Seated Aerobics ($7 per class)
Fridays:
- 9.30am: Zumba ($8 per class)
- 12.45pm: Seated Zumba ($8 per class)
- 2pm: Qi Gong Tai Chi ($10 per class)
All classes are for Rotorua residents 55+ and held at Parksyde Community Centre, 9 Tarewa Place.
Mondays:
- Join a run club every Monday evening at 5.30pm, starting outside the EightySix Coffee kiosk at the lakefront (old QE end). Everyone’s welcome.
- Harmony A Plenty have been singing for 20 years. Covid has reduced our numbers. We are inviting men to join and enjoy our 7pm-9pm Monday practice, supper and sing-outs in Tauranga. If this appeals to you contact Frank 576 3037 or David 576 0575.
Tuesdays:
- Rotorua District Cadet Unit Parades – if you’re Year 9 and up, come along to see if you are the next cadet to join the ranks. Where: 23 Geddes Rd, Rotorua, on Tuesdays during school term, 6.15pm to 9pm.
- Cards 500 at the Mount Community Hall 12.30pm to 4pm. All welcome. Inquiries to phone 0276586848.
Thursdays:
- Rotorua Night Market, weekly at Tutānekai St from 5pm until 9pm. Weather dependent.
- The Mount Art group meets every Thursday at St Peter’s Anglican Church hall, 15 Victoria Rd at the Mount, from 9am until noon. Call Merilynn on 0274846874 for more information.
- Air Training Corp parade during term weeks from 6.15pm at 23 Geddes Rd. Age 13-plus. Come down and have a look or contact cucdr.75sqn@cadetforces.org.nz for more information. You are welcome to come and have a look.
- Cards 500 at the Mount Community Hall 12.30pm to 4pm. All welcome. Inquiries to phone 0276586848.
Fridays:
- Friday Night Fun Night at Baywave – enjoy two hours of racing down the hydroslide, bobbing through the waves in our wave pool and bombing off a special platform to the latest tunes for $6 a person. From 6pm to 8pm Fridays, excluding public and school holidays.
- Tauranga Night Market at McKinley Park in Tauranga Racecourse. 5pm-8.30pm. Come along for food, small business stalls and entertainment.
Saturdays:
- The Little Big Markets – Summer Series: October 20, Tauranga CBD Waterfront, 9am to 2pm.
- Rotary Charity Market at Kuirau Park has been operating for 37 years, every Saturday morning, wet or fine, 7am to 2pm. Stalls selling vegetables, a wide range of takeaway food, popcorn, coffee, meat, jewellery, clothing, gift cards, and more. Proceeds are used for various community undertakings. Sites for stalls cost $30.
- Tauranga Farmers’ Market rain or shine, 7.45am to noon at Tauranga Primary School.
- Kuirau Park Book Sale on first and third Saturdays, from 9am until 1pm in the kiosk near the playground. All proceeds to Rotorua Library.
- The Greerton Hall Market on the second and last Saturday of every month from 8am to noon.
Sundays: Waihī Beach Sunday Market 9am to 1pm at Wilson Park.
Daily: Government Gardens Guided Tours, 11am, outside Rotorua Museum.
Fortnightly:
- Pakihi Ora Māori Business Network Māori Business Rōpū focused on bringing together and supporting ngā pakihi Māori. Anchored in Māori values, knowledge and cultural practices, dedicated to creating spaces that are mana enhancing. A place where Māori business owners can come together and feel connected through mātauranga. This is a Wednesday fortnightly kaupapa held at Kai Caff Aye, Fenton St, 7.30am to 9am. Visit Pakihi Ora on Facebook for more information.
Twice-monthly:
Geyserland Country Music Club aims to foster and share the love of Country Music with people of all ages, we meet on the first Wednesday from 1 pm-4pm and the third Sunday of the month from 1 pm–4.30 pm at the Rotorua Bowling Club next to the Blue Baths in the Government Gardens, $6 door charge for non-members, children under 13yrs free. For more information go to Geyserland Country Music Club Facebook page or contact Dallas 350 2048 or Bruce 027 446 5800.
Monthly:
- Muscular Dystrophy Support Group meets the last Sunday of the month at 11am at the Whipped Baker Cafe, Historic Village. Family and friends welcome. Any inquiries to reactn2you@gmail.com.
- Sol Markets at Simpson Reserve includes products, services and information from local stallholders that consider sustainability in their business practises. From 9am to 2pm on the first Sunday of the month.
- Geyserland Country Music Club meets on the first Wednesday from 1pm to 3pm and the third Sunday of the month from 1pm to 4.30pm at the Rotorua Bowling Club. Non-members $6, children under 13 are free. For more information go to Geyserland Country Music Club Facebook page.
- Rotorua UkeBox Ukulele Open Mic and Strum Along. Third Sunday of the month, 3pm to 4.30pm at Te Runanga Tea House. Free to strum or sing along or watch.
- Western Bay Crop Swap, a free event for backyard gardeners, home bakers and food foragers to swap and share high-quality local food on the first Saturday of the month, 10am to 11am at SuperGrans Western Bay of Plenty, 14 Jocelyn St, Katikati.
- Rotorua Jazz Club meets first Sunday of every month, 4.30pm to 8pm, winter and summer. Rotorua Citizens Club, Arawa St. $20 entry for adults, $2 for juniors. The public is always welcome. For upcoming events and bands go to Rotorua Jazz Club Facebook page or email rotjazzclub@gmail.com.
- Historic Village Wellbeing Market on the third Saturday of the month from 10am to 3pm.
- Ōmokoroa Market featuring arts and crafts, produce, plants and car boot, plus more. Held on the last Saturday of the month 9am to noon at Ōmokoroa Settlers Hall.
- Maketū Market from 7am at Maketū Village Green on the third and fifth Sunday of the month. Vendor stalls $10. Phone Maureen 021 2671 685.
- Improv Comedy with The Honest Liars – 16th Ave Theatre. First Saturday of the month 7.30pm to 9pm, entry $15.
- BoP Blues Club Jam, first Wednesday of the month, 7.30pm to 10.30pm, Rotorua Citizens Club.
- Art By Bike Tours, third Saturday of the month, (finishes April 15) 10am, Te Manawa.
- Collective Energies Holistic Wellness Market the fourth Saturday of each month 9am to 2pm at the Mount Community Hall, 345 Maunganui Rd, Mount Maunganui. Collective Energies Facebook/Insta. Contact Melanie 027 286 8268 for more information.
■ To include your event, email details to whatson@dailypost.co.nz at least a week before the event.
