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So without further ado, here's the lowdown on what's going on across our biggest city.
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- Don't Miss
- Free And Budget-Friendly Events
- Food And Drink Events
- Arts And Culture
- Rainy Day Activities
- Uniquely Auckland Experiences
- Coming Soon
Don’t Miss
Free & Budget-Friendly Events
Kindness Collective's PJ Project
‘Til 31 July, Drop-Offs ‘Til 24 June | Any The Warehouse Store, Nationwide | $, Free
Image credit: Kindness Collective | supplied
While some of us cosy up by the fire in our waffle duvets and quadruple oversized hoodies, a staggering 156,000 Kiwi kids are facing bedtime without basic warmth—that's 10,000 more children than last year shivering through the night. But check this—The Kindness Collective's PJ Project is bringing the heat with their fifth annual pyjama drive. Donate just 10 bucks to sponsor a new pair of jammies, or call by any wuddy-fuddy to drop off a new pair yaself.
Lucky Tiles - Social Mahjong in the Alley
30 May | Bar Beluga | $
Image credit: Lucky Tiles Social Club | Instagram
If you're Nana spent many a tedious arvo teaching you the ins and outs of the lucky game, then please raise your hand... anyone?
If you didn't have quite as patient a nana as I did, then it's no worries anyway, cause you can join the Lucky Tiles Social Club community for an arvo of mahjong and making friends. It's a recurring kinda thang that looks to spread the beloved pastime, offer a chance to reconnect with community and culture and provide a space for a bit of good ‘ol-fashioned hanging out and the latest iteration returns on 30 May. $15 scores you a seat at a table, a non-alcoholic drink and two hours of getting lucky (not in that way!). Running 7-9pm at Bar Beluga.
PieceHouse Speed Puzzle Competition
‘Til 31 May | Online | Free
Image credit: PieceHouse | supplied
For the dissectologists among us (there’s a word you might want to add to your arsenal), PieceHouse has teamed up with the NZ Jigsaw Puzzle Association for a thrilling speed competition featuring their new Feast & Fizz 500-piece puzzle. Simply grab a copy, time yourself completing it, and submit your time by 31 May for a chance to win. There’s a $100 gift card for the fastest puzzler and spot prizes up for grabs, and you can find out all about it here.
Food And Drink Events
PonsonBurger Festival
26 May-8 June | Ponsonby | $$
Image credit: PonsonBurger | Babiche Martens
I reckon burgers are one of an Urban Lister's favourite foods... and in any event, they're most certainly mine, and that's why I believe the upcoming PonsonBurger festival is an absolutely essential addition to your calendar. This two-week annual event, running from 26 May to 8 June, will see more than 30 bars and eateries from around Ponsonby putting their very best burger creations on show. Amongst this year's entries are a flaming fondue burger from Longroom (pictured), featuring a cheese-topped bun that's literally on fire, as well as a cheese-stuffed, cornflake-crusted fried chicken burger from Hoppers Garden Bar. Oof. For more food news, follow your tastebuds here.
NZ Music Month Takes To The Streets
May | Across Auckland Central | Free
Image credit: Music Photography Award 2024 Winner: Brenna Gotje | OurAuckland website
NZ Music Month is turning the many streets and lanes of midtown and beyond into a symphony of chaos—and I am most certainly here for it. From opera echoing throughout the Strand Arcade to jazz jamming in Vulcan Lane’s cobblestone corridors, and the pulse of the haka reverberating throughout the waterfront—this isn’t just background music—it’s a full-volume love letter to Tāmaki Makaurau’s UNESCO City of Music status. And whether you’re a hip-hop head, a classical connoisseur, here for the free vibes, or all of the above like myself, May’s lineup hits all the right notes.
Mayhem Portals
30 May | Trusts Arena | $$$
Image credit: Mayhem Festival | Instagram
Fancy a bit of mayhem? We know you do. Come 30 May, a bit of a blowout will be taking place at Trusts Arena as Mayhem, NZ’s premier drum and bass arena show, is back for its fifth iteration. ‘Portals’ showcases heavy hitters and local dons alike, with A.M.C, Koven, The Upbeats, Skantia & Circadia (plus more TBA) absolutely shelling it all night long. It's set to be an all-timer for the head-banging, two-stepping front-lefters among us, so pack your earplugs, your pump bottle and get ready to skank. Tickets are already two-thirds gone.
Armageddon Expo: Auckland Winter
31 May-June 2 | Auckland Showgrounds | $$
King's Birthday weekend just got exponentially quirkier, and with a lineup like this, I reckon Charlie Boy might swap out whatever plans he has on and get down to Auckland Showgrounds himself. Armageddon Expo is once again rolling into Auckland, with their Wintergeddon edition sprawling across Auckland Showgrounds for three super days. Yup, I’m talking actual superheroes—headed by Mr Fantastic Ian Gruffud—cosplay royalty, the world's first CARmageddon, a Stranger Things exhibit, and esports tournaments galore.
In Focus – The Unseen Journey of Compassion, Commitment and Care
‘Til 1 June | Mataira Gallery, Waiheke Island | Free
Image credit: Orna McGinn | Instagram
Now, if that Armageddon Expo I mentioned is the chance to see the capes and undies type of superheroes galavant around, then Rachel Mataira’s stunning new exhibition ‘In Focus’ is where you witness the real deals. Through her award-winning lens, Mataira reveals intimate portraits and stories of islanders who’ve had their lives transformed by local healthcare heroes, and brings them beautifully in focus for all to see. Featuring impactful imagery and personal kōrero from patients and staff receiving and delivering care on beautiful Waiheke, it’s a bit of a must-visit if you plan on taking the ferry over this weekend.
Ngā Hau e Whā | Tāmaki Makaurau
Now Exhibiting | The Pavilions & Föenander Gallery | Free
Four boundary-pushing artists have joined creative forces in a must-see exhibition celebrating the winds that draw us all to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland—a place where people, ideas and energies from far and wide converge. Ngā hau e whā (the four winds) is a powerful showcase that explores movement, memory, resistance and Auckland's enduring vibrancy as a cultural melting pot, now exhibiting at Parnell's lovely Föenander Galleries.
Rainy Day Activities
Unique Auckland Experiences
YIN-NER with Strangers - A Stretchy x Everyday Solitude experience
28 May | Beau Bar | $$
Image credit: Stretchy Yoga | website
If you love stretching out your jaw muscles as much as every other limb and ligament, then this just might be the evening for you. Come 28 May, ten lucky strangers will come together at Beau Bar for an embodied yin flow experience from Stretchy, followed by a set menu ‘Dinner with Strangers’ by Everyday Solitute, where their trademark conversation cards will set the foundations for the evening and help the fresh connections flourish. Very mysterious, very demure and 100% a bitta you. But hurry, there’s only one spot left.
DARKFIELD
'Til 8 June | Aotea Square | $20-25
“The darkness surrounds you. You are completely alone, together, as a strange new world unfolds around you. Welcome to DARKFIELD…” Sound like fun?
A boundary-pushing, sensory expedition—DARKFIELD has landed in Aotea Square a couple weeks back and I reckon you'll be pretty keen. Set inside custom-built, pitch-black shipping containers utilising 360-degree binaural sound with special effects, SÉANCE and FLIGHT are two mind-bending, immersive experiences that will challenge your senses, exploring the depths of human psychology and perception. Each trip lasts 20-25 minutes. There’ll be staggered starts. And you can move between the two while experiencing a delightful evening in our city’s arts quarter. Sweeeet.
Coming Soon
Auckland Live Cabaret Festival
3-15 June | The Civic, $$
Image credit: Auckland Live | supplied
Winter may be coming, but it's set to be bedazzled. And hella steamy. The hugely anticipated return of the Auckland Live Cabaret Festival is finally here, once again filling The Civic with a packed lineup that's sure to enchant. From a sexy-dangerous global cabaret/circus sensation, La Clique, to the supernatural pop concert-meets-dungeon nightclub Monster Songs, an interactive Disco Inferno and a whole lot more (including the much-frothed Piano Bar), be ready to snag tickets when they drop on 17 April.
Sir Dave Dobbyn: Selected Songs
4 June | Auckland Town Hall | $$
Image credit: Live Nation | supplied
Call me loyal, but I simply cannot look past a chance to catch Sir Dave live—so for him to perform at Auckland Town Hall—for the first time ever—is very much at the tippity top of my must-attends for 2025. Part of the Auckland Winter Series, Dobbyn will blast out all the bangers on 4 June, taking us on a journey through 45 years of Kiwi music history. Slice of Heaven? You bet.
HAU [te Hī me te Hā] FESTIVAL
17-18 June | Basement Theatre | Free-$$
Image credit: Hau [te Hī me te Hā] Festival | supplied
Two weeks. Five shows. One iconic venue. Hau [te Hī me te Hā] Festival takes over Basement Theatre mid-June, and I feel it's a bit of a no-brainer. From George Henare's powerhouse performance in TĀNE RORE to an all-woman, all-queer Matariki GARAGE PARTY, this festival delivers an extravaganza of fresh, authentic indigenous LGBTQiA2+ stories, single-handedly shifting the forecast for this winter to gale-force winds of change.
Roger Hall’s End of Summer Time (Auckland Theatre Company)
17 Jun–5 Jul | ASB Waterfront Theatre | $$
New Zealand’s favourite playwright, Sir Roger Hall, is bringing back his loveable grump, who’s here to steal the show again. Directed by Alison Quigan and starring Andrew Grainger, End of Summer Time is a hilarious solo play following retired cow cocky Dickie Hat, as he moves to the big smoke to be closer to his grandkids. Packed with Hall’s signature wit and heart, it’s a laugh-out-loud exploration of family, aging, and the chaos of life.
Dracula's
26-28 June | The Civic | $$$
Image credit: Dracula's | supplied
There comes a time when you realise your soul is yearning for a vampire pulling off gravity-defying contortions in silks. And fortunately, this June, the universe is delivering. Yep, cult-favourite cabaret, Dracula's, is coming to Tāmaki. With two shows already sold out, they're releasing a third on Friday, 28 February. Ninja skills at the ready.
Peppa Pig's Fun Day Out LIVE!
28 & 29 June | Sky City | $$
Image credit: Peppa Pig's Fun Day Out LIVE! | Luke Gallagher
My two nephews', and just about every human two feet and below's, favourite lil piggy will be filling SkyCity with songs, dance, muddy puddles, and all manner of wholesome delights. That's right, Peppa, her family, and her friends go to the zoo and the beach for a special party this June in Peppa Pig's Fun Day Out LIVE! And if you're out of town, you'll be stoked to know she's on tour with additional shows in Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton throughout July. Tickets live.
Cirque du Soleil: Corteo
30 Oct-2 November | Spark Arena | $$$
Image credit: Cirque du Soleil | Maja Prgomet
Cirque du Soleil is returning to Aotearoa this October, with the Auckland debut of Corteo. Directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, Corteo is a festive parade imagined from a clown’s perspective, set on a double-sided stage. Expect grace, power, and comedy played out in a liminal space between heaven and earth. Tickets are live.
Not in Auckland? Check out what's on in Christchurch, Wellington, and Queenstown this year.
Main image credit: DUO | supplied.
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