Stuff To Do This Weekend part 2

Of course the most important thing happening this weekend needs it's on post ....

Just be at Britomart at 3pm on Saturday - easy. Check out this Facebook page if you want more information about the march and why it's so important. 


Take a step to make sure the Aotearoa our children take over in the future is their Aotearoa.

Stuff To Do This Weekend

ummm, hibernate? Make blanket forts? DVDs and buckets of popcorn?

Or, in the event that you decide to brave the elements and leave the house here are some things you can do....

The Wakeskate nationals (when did we stop calling it wake boarding?) are on in the Orakei Basin this Saturday. 9am start and the finals are on at 2pm. Free to watch! 

And if you like that then there is also a powerboat race at 1pm on Saturday in the Auckland Harbour this weekend. Be down in the viaduct for the best vantage point. 


The Sustainable Coastlines workshops are back at the Wynyard Quarter this weekend! Sunday at 11am and 1pm but you need to register so email them now. Do it!

Whether you're into BMXs, fixies or cruisers, if you've got a bike and you love it then you need to get along to Bicy Kill at Salvation Kitchen on Great North Rd on Sunday. There will be a group ride from T.Whites to Salvation Kitchen at 10:30 to kick it all off and then a day full of bunny hop comps, wheelie comps, a box jam and lots of other good times. There will also be a tweed/moustache ride at 12 if that's more your thing - prizes for the most mysterious gentleman!

Also, the Auckland Art Gallery have extended their offer on the Degas to Dali exhibition - kids get in free! 

Anzac Day Activities

Like most New Zealanders, I'm all about peace and raising my children to believe that war is not the answer. However I also think there's value in looking back and remembering people who've gone to war.


If you're looking for a way to help your kids understand Anzac Day then taken them to the  Torpedo Bay Navy Museum tomorrow from 10am - 5pm. There will be an exhibit in their Remembrance Room where you'' be shown how to make a poppy flower from crepe paper and add it to a "field" that will grow during the day. They'll also have an educator reading Anzac themed stories throughout the day. 


And of course there will be a parade at 5:30am and then a dawn service at the Auckland Museum at 6am if you're the kind of parent that could get yourself and the kids out of the house before the sun is up. All power to you but I am not that kind of parent! You can print out this programme if you are thinking of going. Otherwise check out this link to see the other activities the museum has planned for the rest of the day - they're also doing poppy making for kids as well as tours, documentary screenings and live music. 


But if that start is sounding a little too early then there is a parade in Newmarket at 9:45. You can either watch or join in and march to Olympic Park with everyone.

Stuff To Do This Weekend

Alright, the weekend is finally here (I count Fridays) and it's looking like a stunner! Get out and make the most while it lasts Auckland. 

Tonight you can catch some live Japanese drumming thanks to the Tamashii Taiko Drummers at Aotea Square from 5 - 7pm. 

Then take the fam down to Silo Park for dinner. There are all kinds of food vendors set up there from 5pm along with a bar and some very cool market stalls with really affordable art work, second hand sneakers, amazing jewellery.... And then if you can pawn the kids off onto someone else (or you know, bring a sleeping bag!) then the highly recommended film 'Bill Cunningham New York' will be projected onto one of the Silos at 8pm. 

Saturday is international Record Store Day and record stores around the city have got live performances on as well as a whole heap of special vinyl releases for the day. Tom from Homebrew is on at Real Groovy and Latin Aotearoa will be performing at Conch. I have to admit, I really want to go check those shows out but am scared of how much money I'll be tempted to spend. 

Latin Aotearoa

Back at Silo Park on Saturday, Lawrence Arabia will be taking care of entertainment for the day. He's on from 2:45 - 4pm but Princess Chelsea, Cool Rainbows and assorted DJs will also be performing. As usual there will be the market, food stalls and a bar. I'll be hanging out there later on the day before KRS-ONE at the The Cloud - can't wait!

On Sunday Cambodian dance crew Tiny Toones are performing a free preview of their show at the Auckland Art Gallery at 12 noon. The crew is made up of former street kids who now teach break dancing as well as reading, writing and other life skills to other street kids and slum children. 

Record Store Day

Dilla and Madlib crate digging

This Saturday is International Record Store Day so make sure you get along to your local

record store to support them/spend too much money.  Most stores usually have special vinyl releases as well as special deals on offer and sometimes live music.

Tom Scott from Homebrew is performing at Real Groovy on Saturday from 12:30 - 2pm, Princess Chelsea is on after him and there will be a bunch of other DJs on. 
At Conch Records  Latin Aotearoa is on at 12 followed by El Truento at 2pm. Both stores have got some great releases on offer so go check them out. 

Never too early to get your kids obsessed about their own record collection! Haeata already has a couple and knows how to point out her favourite tracks and demand they get played over and over and over again. 

Tiny Toones Dance Crew

A little while back a friend of mine returned from a trip to Cambodia telling me about this hip hop dance crew called Tiny Toones that she'd come across. They were all just kids themselves but they were teaching other younger kids how to dance in an effort to protect at-risk youth from drug abuse and HIV while getting them to channel their energy into something creative. 

As well as teaching kids how to break dance they teach kids Khmer, English, computer studies and basic life skills like HIV and sex education. It all started in the living room of a break dancer who was born in a Thai refugee camp and was deported from America after getting involved with drugs. Even without an education he started to see how he could make a difference in the lives of the other kids in the slums, simply by teaching them how to dance. It gave him a chance to talk to them about drug abuse and once an NGO got involved he was able to move the classes into a centre. Pretty inspirational stuff. The centre now reaches hundreds of kids in Cambodia and from what my friend told me they're actually making a difference. 

A dance crew made up of dancers who've been through the centre are touring right now to raise funds for the centre and will be performing at Auckland Girls Grammar on Friday night, April 27th. 


But you can also catch a free preview of their show at the Auckland Art Gallery on Sunday at a toddler friendly 12pm. See you there!

Box City in Aotea Square

Alright, so you know I usually try to keep the events I list to free stuff but this one looks pretty cool and worth shelling out a very reasonable $12.50 for. 


Tomorrow thousands of boxes will be dumped in Aotea Square for We Built This City. Kids will be guided by performers/construction workers to use their imagination while they build tunnels, archways, towers and labyrinths out of the boxes. 


There will be three "performances" throughout the day tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 


The idea is that the city is redesigned and evolves with every performance. The event is recommended especially for kids aged 4 - 10 but there will be a special space for smaller people.


Tickets are $12.50 at The Edge (all children have to be accompanied by an adult who must also buy a ticket but as a bonus under 3s are free!)

Mum's (or Dad's) Day Off at The Department Store

Surviving the school holidays? The Department Store in Takapuna are doing another Mum's Day Off today! They have a supervised play area upstairs on the same level as Topshop with story telling, face painting, fairy games and pirate games. Haeata and I have dropped by for a couple of events and they always have some very friendly and entertaining fairies on duty. 


And so you can make the most of your time off, they'll have discounts in every store. Or you know, you could just go sit downstairs in La Boulange and have a quiet cup of coffee.

Free Live Comedy at Silo Park

This Saturday madness will ensue down at Silo Park when the Comedy Festival takes some inspiration from the hilarious "Best In Show" mockumentary and put's on their own dog show.

The Silo Park market stalls (so much cool stuff, I want to buy it all!) and food stalls (and eat it all!) will be there from 2pm, they will put on an actual dog show judged by local comedians at 4pm, there will a stand up showcase at 6pm and then they're going to show "Best In Show" at 6:30. All this for free! The best part is you can actually register your dog in the competition so get your dog dressed up in the craziest costume you can think of and parade the poor thing down at Silo Park. Fun!

Free performances at the Art Gallery

Alright, sorry for the extended long weekend there! Hope you all had a great Easter weekend and you didn't all O.D on chocolate too badly (as if).

If you're at the Auckland Art Gallery this Saturday around 12pm keep an eye out for 50 people who will be simultaneously blowing up balloons all over the art gallery for 30 minutes as part of a performance linked to the Made Active show. 

Stick around for the free drop in session from 1 - 3pm where kids can make art inspired by the collections on display. You do have to register when you get there and places are limited so check out that link. 

On Sunday at 3pm dancer and choreographer Yahna Fooks will be performing on the Edmiston Sculpture Terrace in the gallery on level 2. Her piece is only 10 minutes long so don't be late! 

While you're there go check out the always cool and kid-friendly learning centre with it's swirly glittery wall art and kaleidoscopes.

If you've never taken your kids to the art gallery and you're a bit nervous about letting them loose with all that fine art around then check out this really handy survival guide the gallery has put out. It really is a lot more kid-friendly there than you might suspect and Haeata always has a great time there. 

Stuff To Do This Weekend

Merry Easter! Or whatever it is where supposed to say at this year. How about, oh my god look at the beautiful weather! Suck it naysayer meteorologists.


There's a free easter egg hunt out in Hobsonville at 10:30 today but it's restricted to the first 100 kids so go, get there now!


Nothing else really seems to be happening today so I recommend lying around in the sun which is exactly what I am going to do today. Might build a pillow fort under the trees for Haeata to keep her busy.


We are however very, very excited for tomorrow because Base FM's annual Shake and Bake is on! This is a free day event from 12 - 6pm for the whole community with live music and DJs - always a good time. This year it's moving down to Silo Park in the Wynyard Quarter which is cool because all the usual Silo markets will be set up and there's a really cool Cut Collective exhibition happening inside the actual silos. One of Haeata's favourite playgrounds is right there in Wynyard Quarter too. Fun for the whole family! Bring a picnic or treat yourself to some of the delicious food on offer in the market. Did I mention there will be a bar?
Dylan at Base has written up a very helpful guide to all the acts playing tomorrow so go check that out if you need some further enticement.


Drop by the Parnell Markets (8am - 12pm) on your way to Shake and Bake for some treats for your picnic and the kids can join in some Easter activities like Easter egg decorating and Easter hat making. 


And then maybe cruise by the Kapiti Icecream shop before you hit the waterfront because they're giving away kids icecreams with every adult icecream purchased! Sounds like you can decorate the ice creams too - fun and delicious!


If you're feeling like something a little different there's a Berba grape harvesting festival happening at the Souljans Wine Estate all weekend long from Saturday - Monday. You can even get in on some grape stomping at 2:15 every day! There will also be live music and free tastings. 


 Also on tomorrow there is an Easter egg hunt on in Takapuna, an Easter carnival at the Longroom in Ponsonby, and an Easter festival in Onehunga.


On Sunday there's a carnival on at Leigh School from 9am - 2pm and in true Leigh style they are really laying it on - something for everyone! Fresh snapper and crayfish, a wine auction, live music, carnival rides including the famous Leigh Fisheries Giant Ice Slide, and the classics like a coconut shy, lucky dips and face painting.


While you're up in that area go check out the Autumn Indie Craft Bazaar in Matakana. As well as Retro, indie, vintage, up-cyclyed, handmade crafts with an edge they'll have 

live music, entertainment, jousting, food and wine specials, train rides, pony rides, animal experience, adventure play grounds and bouncy castles. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and as usual, let me know if I've left something out!

Lyrics Born - I Changed My Mind

Alright, one of my best friends has just flown in from Wellington so we stayed up all night talking shit and we've been doing the same thing all morning (and eating Marmite and cheese on toast. Yes I still have some. Yum) so you're getting a lazy blog steal from the wonderful babysteps blog  today. Enjoy your Thursday everyone!

Free Dance Show Today

If you're downtown today make sure you stop by the beautiful Auckland Art Gallery at 12:30. The New Zealand Dance Company is performing for free on the mezzanine floor in the Mackelvie Gallery. 


The show will feature works, improvisations and new music by Justin Haiu.


Can't say no to a free show by some of New Zealand's best dancers can you? Go check out Degas to Dali while you're there and maybe go hang in the mirror room for a while - craziness! 

Cut Collective exhibition in Silo Park

From Friday 6th - Friday 13th of April the giant silos in Silo Park will be open to the public for a collaborative exhibition put on by Cut Collective, Jon Baxter and a host of other artists. The show is called Public Access 5 and is all about making art accessible to the public while also making an Auckland landmark accessible. The artwork will be really cool and interesting for kids and who wouldn't want the opportunity to have an explore inside those cavernous towers! 


Check out this tumblr set up to document the progress of the exhibition going into the silos with some really cool pictures. 


Base FM's annual free Shake & Bake party is on in Silo Park this Saturday from 12pm - 6pm so that would be your perfect opportunity to get down there and check out the exhibition.