Bright Nights is an  immersive lighting experience taking over Auckland’s premier waterfront precinct from 8-12 May 2019.

Viaduct Harbour has teamed up with award-winning Angus Muir Design to create a full scale lighting experience at Auckland’s premier waterfront destination. This free, public event will see the Viaduct Harbour transformed into a luminary wonderland, with more than a dozen interactive artworks and performances from local and international artists.

Two Bright Nights trails will weave their way through to the Viaduct Harbour hospitality precinct, once commencing at Waitematā Plaza, and the other from Te Wero Island.   Find the Bright Nights map here 

Bright Nights is alive from 6pm to 10pm from Wednesday 8 May to Sunday 12 May 2019.

Bright nights is a fully wheelchair accessible event.

Let the White Face Crew give you the skinny on the 70’s and 80’s. Come boogie down as they take you back to the days when hip-hop dance emerged from disco dancing. Join the White Face Crew as they showcase their unique style of physical comedy, with clowning, dance and physical theatre. Can you dig it?!

Afterwards join the White Face Crew team to learn some tricks of the trade to create your own funny routines, with the tools of clowning, comedic timing, and dance.

Performances start at 10am, followed by a workshop at 11am.

Auckland Live Pick & Mix events are free, however bookings are essential. Please book your tickets at https://www.aucklandlive.co.nz/show/auckland-live-pick-and-mix-white-face-crew#tickets-times

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.

New cult Japanese-inspired artisan sushi store, Sushi Sushi is celebrating opening their first NZ store in Auckland with a month of celebrations called ‘Matsuri’.

They will host a kids masterclass where your little ones – big or small  will learn how to make their own sushi hand-rolls from skilled sushi artisans. Bring them down for a fun morning!

Learning to ride a two-wheeler is one of those big childhood milestones, and being part of that experience as a parent is a thrill.

If you are wondering how to get started, or experiencing a few bumps along the way then check out the free #Learn2Ride sessions.

AT’s team of qualified instructors work alongside parents to get kids riding. Whether starting on a balance bike or making the transition to pedals the team is there to help.

Sessions are weather dependent and run on a drop-in basis. Bring your own bike or try one of AT’s bikes.

Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition is on at the iconic Eden Park, where in 1981 flour bombs were dropped in protest at the Apartheid regime and the ongoing imprisonment of the future South African president.

The exhibition will provide visitors with a glimpse into the extraordinary personal life of Nelson Mandela. Produced by iEC Exhibitions, Museums Victoria, and TEG Live in full collaboration with The Nelson Mandela Foundation based in South Africa, this brand-new world class exhibition arrives direct from the prestigious Melbourne Museum, exhibiting in Auckland as part of a 5-year worldwide tour.

Expertly curated by a team of Museums Victoria staff headed by iEC Exhibitions’ Samantha Heywood, Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition features over 200 original artefacts, documents, personal items and artworks from The Nelson Mandela Foundation and Nelson Mandela’s private collection. This is the most comprehensive collection ever to be shown outside of South Africa.

Book online, or purchase at box office on the day

The exhibit is open from 10am to 4pm each day until Sunday 4 August 2019*

*Hours may be subject to change due to private events, so please check with the organiser before you go to make sure it is open on the day you want to go..

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki presents Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys, a major exhibition of work by one of New Zealand’s most influential artists.

The exhibition which is FREE for children is open from 10am to 5pm daily until Sunday 1 September 2019.

Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys is the culmination of a significant international project that brings together artworks from New Zealand and around the globe to explore the artist’s place in 20th-century art. The exhibition traces Frances Hodgkins’ creative and peripatetic life through France, Morocco and Spain to her final days in England, examining the influence of location on her development as a modernist painter and the notion of travel and journeying as a source of artistic inspiration.

Born in Dunedin, Frances Hodgkins (1869–1947) left for Europe in 1901 and, by the late 1920s, had become an important figure within British Modernism, exhibiting with avant-garde artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. With a professional life that spanned almost six decades, the two World Wars, and periods of massive social and cultural change, Hodgkins caught the spirit of a new age. Today, she is celebrated as one of New Zealand’s most successful expatriate artists of the 20th century, and has an ongoing legacy in both Europe and this country.

The exhibition includes more than 150 artworks produced between 1901 and 1946: from early watercolour travel sketches of the French Riviera, Morocco and Venice, through to her first contact with modernism in Paris, and oil paintings from her later life in Britain.

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 Friday 11 October 2019.

Image credits: Guerrilla Girls © George Lange 1990

Inspired by artist Sena Park’s residency in Mongolia, come and explore the current sculptural installation and then create your own responsive 3D dreamscape of Mongolia.

About Saturday Gallery Club
Drop in between 10.30am and 12pm to create art inspired by the latest exhibitions in the gallery. We will be presenting fun and free art-making sessions for kids on the second Saturday of each month, exploring a different art topic and set of techniques each time.

All art materials are provided. Although there is no need to book, participation is limited by space. Art activities are designed for children aged four years and over, and run for around 30 minutes. These sessions are family friendly so adults can join in too—children just need to be accompanied by an adult.

For more info contact info@ceac.org.nz (09) 8384455

Join the APO and artist Elise McCann for a scrumdiddlyumptious musical adventure inspired by the fantastical imagination of Roald Dahl.

Dahl is one of the world’s most popular authors. His stories have entertained generations of children combining fun, fear and a sprinkling of naughtiness.

Grab your golden ticket for this magical family concert. Elise McCann (2016 Helpmann Award Winner, Miss Honey in Matilda the Musical) and the APO will perform music from Matilda the Musical, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, original compositions of Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes and more.

Conductor David Kay
Featuring Elise McCann
Musical arrangements and direction Stephen Amos
Dahlesque is presented by Bayleys

Performance times are 11am and 2pm.

Join the APO and artist Elise McCann for a scrumdiddlyumptious musical adventure inspired by the fantastical imagination of Roald Dahl.

Dahl is one of the world’s most popular authors. His stories have entertained generations of children combining fun, fear and a sprinkling of naughtiness.

Grab your golden ticket for this magical family concert. Elise McCann (2016 Helpmann Award Winner, Miss Honey in Matilda the Musical) and the APO will perform music from Matilda the Musical, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, original compositions of Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes and more.

Conductor David Kay
Featuring Elise McCann
Musical arrangements and direction Stephen Amos
Dahlesque is presented by Bayleys

Performance times are 11am and 2pm.

Stargazing labs are family friendly and ideal for young scientists. You will have a nice opportunity to learn more about the solar system and the Universe, and also to motivate interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in young minds. Some telescopes and additional resources will be available for use. Including telescopes that can be operated by kids.

You will have opportunities to observe the craters and mountains on the Moon, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and the rings of Saturn. You will also have a chance to observe deep sky objects like star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies.

Bookings are required. The event can be postponed due to weather conditions, so please check with Skylabs before attending the event.