Kia ora Funfesters !! It’s back !

Trillian Trust Funfest 2020 is New Zealands biggest annual FREE  family event.

Four  days of FREE rides, FREE entry, FREE entertainment and FREE parking.

Trillian Trust FunFest 2020 is the only event of it’s kind in the Southern Hemisphere with over 30,000 fans enjoying New Zealand summers largest free family event.

FREE RIDES
Ride New Zealand’s number 1 rides as seen at the Easter Show and New Zealand’s top festivals. Mahons Rides will feature all your crowd favourites The Sizzler, The Roundup, The Hurricane, The Dragon Wagon, Cup’n’Saucer, Tug’n’Boat, Kidz Train…and more !

FUNFEST INFLATABLE ZONE
Inflatable Zone… Check out New Zealand’s top inflatable attractions from festival favourites like slides and bouncy castles to the Inflatable fun courses.

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
Check out the FunFest Stage featuring Kids Karaoke, Kids disco, Stage prizes & fun competitions PLUS  a lineup of local singers, dance groups and pacific performance groups !!

MARKET ZONE
Selection of market stalls inside the Sir Wolf Fisher Arena (also features a small inflatable zone inside).

CAREERFEST
Features stalls including Elections New Zealand, Quality Education services (QES) and Life Education Trust (Counties Manukau).

BRING YOUR OWN FOOD & DRINK
Tables and chairs are provided in front of the stage which is located inside the air conditioned Sir Noel Robinson Conference centre. You are more than welcome to BRING IN YOUR OWN FOOD and drink. Or you can purchase food from the Food court featuring Mussel Fritters, Fish & Chips, Burgers, Hot Dogs, Bacon & Egg Rolls, Steak Rolls, Coffee & Crepes, Shaved Ice, Donuts, Tip Top products, Island food, Candy Floss and Cold Drinks.

Enjoy the collectable card game, land zorb track, model car racing tracks and ramps Energize holiday activities at MOTAT this January. This experience is sure to keep kids thinking, active, and entertained in the school holidays as they explore concepts of energy, science, engineering and physics.

ACTIVITIES

Connect-It!
Experience Connect-It!, the fast-building card game of Invention, Innovation and crazy-contraptions. Collect your starter set and step into the role of an inventor, as you challenge your friends and out-build your rivals. Do you have what it takes to build the most innovative machine? Find out in this MOTAT exclusive game!

Land Zorbs
Race, roll, and bounce around the track using your energy to propel the Land Zorb as fast as you can to win! Suitable for ages 5 years and above.

Waitakere Station Jigger
This one requires a bit of muscle! Power the Jigger down the Waitakere Station rail track. How fast can you go?

Ramp it Up!
Take aim and send your toy car down each ramp toward a target!

Imagination Playground
Get creative with giant foam building blocks, designing and piecing together crazy structures.

Energize is on daily in the January school holidays until Monday 27 January 2020.

Recommended for children aged 5 to 12 years old.

Enjoy the FREE 2km sculpture trail of New Zealand artists at Auckland Botanic Gardens.

The sculpture trail is a perfect family day out at the gardens and a fun way for children to learn about New Zealand modern art.  The 2km outdoor sculpture trail features 20 impressive large sculptures made by New Zealand artists.

Don’t forget to pick up the free Fun Trail Guide booklet for the kids and an adults Trail Guide for yourself from the Visitor Centre before you set off on the trail.

The Visitor Centre is closed on Christmas Day only.

Read about Auckland for Kids visit to the Sculpture in the Gardens here.

Sculpture in the Gardens runs over summer until 1 March 2020.

POPS Games and Puzzles pop up fun park is back for another year! 

With over 50 giant games & puzzles from your childhood and some new and unique ones to challenge your mind & body. 

Loads of fun (and educational too), their goal is to provide a stimulating social and enjoyable environment for creative discovery and problem solving through both independent play and team work.

Suited to people of all ages and stages to challenge their minds, visual-spatial reasoning and hand-eye coordination in a range of different kinds of activities. Come with your family or friends for a fun way to enjoy a summer day together.

The games will be on the grassed area in front of the Albany Stadium Pool building. There will be a marquee and gazebos for shade.

Open for three weeks only in the summer school holidays from 11 January to 2 February.

Discover the truth about sharks – one of the ocean’s most misunderstood creatures at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarltons in the summer school holidays.

Kids can  join the LEGO Sea Explorers on an interactive mission and discover the five interactive LEGO pods positioned around the aquarium where they will be challenged to build, draw, colour and create with LEGO!

Drawing inspiration from their deep-sea surroundings, kids can enjoy hands-on LEGO fun while learning about SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s magnificent sharks.  The aquarium is home to five species including sand tiger sharks, carpet sharks, a wobbegong shark, broadnose sevengill sharks and school sharks. Plus Magnus the Shark mascot will be around to meet and greet kids during the school holidays.

Every Tuesday and Thursday at 2pm, watch the aquarium’s team members hand-feeding the sharks their favourite meal of mullet and kahawai!

Summer of Sharks is on at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarltons each day in the summer school holidays from 21 December 2019 to 26 January 2020.

Every day we interact with incredible machines and feats of engineering that make our lives easier.

Machine Makers is an immersive exhibition at MOTAT showcasing the fundamentals of engineering by examining the six simple machines: the building blocks for more complex inventions.

This engaging exhibition features six big simple machines for visitors to try for themselves. Take a hands-on approach to learning and uncover the physics behind each simple machine.

See amazing examples from MOTAT’s collection of complex machines – things made of two or more simple machines.

With all this inspiration, apply your newfound knowledge and get stuck into making your own creations in the Machine MakersLab.

MOTAT is open every day in summer, except for Christmas Day when it is closed.

Machine Makers exhibition is on until 27 April 2020.

Recommended for kids aged 8 to 12 years old. 

Participate and contribute to the exciting new interactive Todd Foundation Creative Learning Centre project by Auckland-based artist Sara Hughes.

Use coloured magnetic shapes to make your own abstract artwork on the Gallery walls, experimenting with colour, composition, shape and pattern.

Work with friends and family to fill the gallery with a constantly evolving collective artwork, take it all down and start again.

The project will be in the Creative Learning Centre until Friday 30 October 2020.

The Art Gallery is closed on Christmas Day, but open on every other day in the holidays.

Viist the kid friendly VOYAGE TO AOTEAROA: TUPAIA AND THE ENDEAVOUR exhibition at Auckland Museum.

Jump on board this Pacific adventure where you can sail a va’a around the Society Islands, experience life as a sailor, and the charting of the coastline of Aotearoa.

You and your family can experience life as it was 250 years ago in our action-packed new exhibition. Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the world of Tupaia, the Tahitian navigator, high priest and artist, as he journeys on the Endeavour to Aotearoa New Zealand.

With three parts to this exhibition, each with child-friendly interactive activities, we feature the little-known story of Tupaia and the significant role he played in James Cook’s first voyage. Experience life as a sailor, navigate your vessel across the ocean, watch Tupaia’s paintings come to life, and more.

Summer school holidays – Quest of the Navigators activity
During the summer school holidays collect a map from the information desk  and follow the clues to discover what skills, tools and knowledge were used in the pre-digital age, while the kids and you explore the Museum galleries.

The exhibition is on until Sunday 15 March 2020.

THE BEST DANCE PARTY YOU HAVE EVER BEEN TO. YOUR TIME STARTS……NOW!

This interactive dance party for all ages invites you to have the most fun possible, in just ten minutes! Shimmy, shake, bop and groove inside a converted shipping container, right here in Aotea Square.

Led by one of Melbourne’s most exciting creatives, Joseph O’Farrell (JOF) invites you to rally your whānau to the dance floor and celebrate the universal joy of having a boogie.

Fun for the whole family!

This performance contains strobe lighting and haze.

“At the beginning we were all dancing just a little bit, but by the end of it we were all just pretty much raving and having a good time!” – 10 Minute Dance Party participant

It wouldn’t be Auckland Live Summer in the Square without a sensational music line-up, and this summer is no exception.

Mark Laurent
4pm – 5pm
FOLK

Great North
5pm – 6pm
FOLK

Paper Cranes
6pm – 7pm
FOLK

Gitbox Rebellion 
7pm – 8pm
FOLK

If you’re a music nerd, or you simply love a cool beverage in the sun while the sweet sounds of live music sizzle in the background, make sure you come on down to the square and make the most of the free music programme that’s on each day. It’s going to be a scorcher!

Grab your friends and family and head along to experience the fun and excitement and make the most of the warm summer nights at Rainbow’s End.

Be catapulted through the sky on Stratosfear, dropped to the ground on the Fearfall or spun through the night on the Invader – the atmosphere is magical at night under all the lights!

All the rides are open on the nights plus Kidz Kingdom outdoor area will be open until 9pm especially for children 8 years and under.