Every Saturday morning from 8am to Noon, Parnell Farmers’ Market has a quality selection of fresh seasonal produce, brought to you by the producers themselves.

Parnell Farmers’ Market is located in the Jubilee Building car park at 545 Parnell Road, Parnell between the library and museum.

This event is for children, families and anyone seeking a fun challenge.

Those who dare, will be tested on a 2.5km muddy obstacle course with a few messy surprises along the way. If you like crawling in mud pits, slipping and sliding down water slides, taking on the challenge of climbing over walls and tyre mountains, splashing through a murky creek and most importantly getting covered in LOTS of mud, this event is for you!

It’s time to get MUDDY!

*Please note, children under the age of 6 are not recommended to take part. Dogs on leads are allowed on the premises but not on the course.

SOLD OUT

Step into the World of the Wizarding Academy. An exciting train journey is waiting for you!

In the next term break the professors from Zealandia’s Saremcroft Wizarding Academy will be sent out on the school’s Magical Steam Locomotive to locate new magical talent to join the Academy.

It’s an immersive, interactive theatre experience for ages 5 – 105 aboard a moving steam train!

Your carriage is your ‘house’, there you’ll be joined by your House Captain and Professor to take part in a variety of magical lessons including spell casting, potions class and more. PLUS every passenger receives a small gift at the end of the journey.

So ready your wand and grab your owl because it’s time to uncover your wizarding talents and join our cast aboard the Wizarding Express.

DEPARTURE TIMES:    9:45am     11:30am     1:15pm     3:00pm

Bookings are reuired.

Weekly FREE Saturday Code Club at Albany Village Library to help Kiwi kids get a jump-start into modern IT and the new Digital Technologies curriculum.  Code Club is offering free basic software training to children in years 5 to 8. You need to bring your own laptop.

This course will cover the core concepts of computer programming, software design and small-scale Internet of Things projects using Netduino and external sensors.

Kiwi kids now have a chance to create web and mobile apps quickly and offer them to a global market instantly. With a basic understanding of programming, design and a big imagination, the world can be your oyster.

Note: This event does not run on public holidays or during school holidays.

Family fun for everyone.

Come along and celebrate our fantastic Māpura Studios artists with a bit of music, face painting, amazing art, food, dance, poetry, murals and music.

Awesome affordable art, dance, poetry, music, performance, bouncy castle, sausage sizzle, yummy food, art workshops & more…

NZSL Interpreters will be there from 10am till 12pm. Everyone is welcome.

WHĀNAU DAY
Performances, storytelling, activities, kai and fun times

Performances include:
Dancing with Karetao – Atamira, Free
Taonga puoro (Māori instruments) played live by expert practitioner James Webster complements a moving feast for ears and eyes, as three Atamira dancers wielding karetao (Māori puppets) introduce young and old to the playful realm of Nga Atua Māori (the Gods/desses). Witness the epic heaven and earth embrace of Ranginui and Papatuanuku, the strong and proud Tānemahuta, or the mysterious and curious Hine Pu Te Hue, each atua revealed through magical storytelling and Māori contemporary dance. Dancing with Karetao is a whanau-friendly work that invites traditional and contemporary flavours of dance, haka, puppetry, drama and pūrakau to combine in a fun and quirky 45-minute performance!

Mahuika – Auckland Theatre Company, Free
Mahuika is a fun filled journey through the ngāhere to the underworld and back as two sisters must save their mum and re unite Mahuika with her long lost daughter while facing Māui’s old foes. Sparkling with light and laughter, blazing with music, dance and magic; MAHUIKA reignites this legend of old with the power of today’s brave, cheeky and caring young women.
By Amber Curreen; Commissioned and Presented by Auckland Theatre Company

Sofija’s Garden at 10:30am  – as part of Going West Festival ($10 to $15 per person)
Enter a magical tent where Baba Sofija is waiting to tell her grandchildren a story – with their help, of course! Fiesty Kosjenka yearns to travel far away from her home, so she rides on the back of the wind and befriends the shy giant Reygoch. Inspired by the oral histories of Dalmatian settlers, this story-within-a-story pays tribute to the pioneering spirit of these early families.
Director Tainui Tukiwaho (Cradle Song, Astroman) makes magic with masks, music and puppetry, and invites the audience to participate.For ages 5-12 and their grown-ups; Performed in English, Croatian and Te Reo Māori

Come celebrate art, culture and community at Lake House Art Centres annual open day. Whether you are an artist thinking about your next exhibition or someone interested in learning a new creative skill, come along and take the opportunity to go behind the scenes of this special heritage building and meet the staff, tutors and residents.

The artists with spaces at Lake House will open their studios so you can learn more about their creative practice, there will be art demonstrations including; clay wheel throwing, printmaking, and painting. Senior students who are members of the VR club will work live on-site so you can watch them in action. There will even be roaming characters from Tim Bray Theatre Companies upcoming show ‘The Little Yellow Digger’.

Open day starts at 10am and will round up with a free concert from North Shore Brass starting at 3pm.

Looking for something to do with ngā tamariki? Visit the Gus Fisher Gallery to see The Slipping Away exhibition and the kids can also colour can complete an Eye Spy activity inspired by the exhibition. These activities ask children to engage with the artwork, to find objects in our Eye Spy game and to think about our relationship with the environment.

The Slipping Away exhibition brings together pivotal works by leading artists to explore the duality of oceans and humankind. The exhibition aims to prompt pertinent conversations about sustainability, plastic pollution and rising sea levels at a point of criticality in 2019.

The Eye Spy activity is a free drop in activity which will be on while the exhibition is showing until 7 September 2019.

Note: The Gus Fisher Gallery is closed on Sunday and Mondays.

Bill Culbert, Pacific Flotsam, 2007. Collection of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Image courtesy of Christchurch Art Gallery.

Carried Away: Bags Unpacked showcases over 150 individual bags from Auckland Museum’s collection, many on display for the first time.

Every bag has a history, a story to tell – from haute couture fashion to cultural traditions. Bags can convey social standing, practical needs or be a statement of art.

From curious creations such as an albatross foot purse and bear gut bag with fur trim, to taonga imbued with Māori and Pacific cultural values such as kete and bilum, the exhibition explores the stories associated with their creation and the people who used them.

Carried Away: Bags Unpacked exhibition is on until 1 December 2019 in the Special Exhibition Hall.

Dedicated to exposing discrimination in the art world, in politics and in the film and music industries, the Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous collective of feminist activist artists. Formed as a collective more than 30 years ago, the Guerrilla Girls’ gorilla-mask costumes, bold visual language and frank, humorous messages have rendered them iconic in the history of art and as part of wider social movements. Guerrilla Girls: Reinventing the ‘F’ Word – Feminism! follows the collective’s artistic practice from 1984 until 2016 and explores how they employ bold, fun and provocative poster art to criticise ongoing biases in art and society.

The exhibition is recommended for teenagers aged 13 years plus as there is some mature subject matter relating to oversexualisation of Hollywood and reproductive rights. 

The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5pm until Tuesday 15 October 2019.

Image credits: Guerrilla Girls © George Lange 1990

Stories, games, music and fun for families to share. Join Te Manawa for this free, interactive event on Saturdays from 10:30am to 11:00am

This event is recommended for children aged 3 to 7 years old.

No bookings required. For more information email: temanawa@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Monty the Monkey is welcoming in Spring by hosting a Teddy Bear’s Picnic for all his friends in South Auckland!

Bring your under 10’s and their best loved bear down to Westfield Manukau centre court and join in on some FREE family friendly fun.

The kids will love getting lost in our pop-up park zone with face painting, cookie decorating, fruit to snack on, giveaways and an afternoon of dancing and storytelling to keep them entertained.

Don’t forget to bring along your favourite toy for all the fun and spot prizes including most loved, scruffiest teddy, fluffiest teddy and more!

SOLD OUT

Join Princess Aria & Twinkle Star at the enchanting, interactive 75 minute long musical experience of Princess Academy!

This original show teaches our precious girls what it means to be a TRUE Princess with 9 beautiful original songs, your little Princess will have a ball singing & dancing with ribbon wands whilst learning the important values we as parents want our daughters to hold with them throughout their lives. This experience includes Face painting, Cupcakes (all Vegan, GF available upon request) & Crafts as well as they will receive a certificate of completion & a beautiful Tiara to keep!  

All ages and genders are welcomed; however, the show is best suited for 3-8-year-old girls.

Adult entry is free and required; under 2 year is free with paid child.
Please come as you are or dress up in full Princess gear ready to shine!