It’s already the end of March and we’re easing into April with a weekend lineup that’s pretty damn extra... and we're here for it.
Discover the glorious fusion when DJs go orchestral, nibble on croissants, eat your weight in cheese, and live your best life in a vegan cookie factory. Refresh your wardrobe (without impacting the environment) and have a DnM while eating rice off banana leaves with your hands. Dance until the sun comes up, munch on all the plant-based goodness, travel the world in a day and make Pinterest proud. All this and more.
Here are 19 epic things to do in Tāmaki Makaurau this Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and all weekend.
Friday 31 March
Be Inspired With CreativeMornings
Start the weekend with some inspiration (and free breakfast) from CreativeMornings/Auckland. Part of a global monthly breakfast and lecture series, this month’s talk will feature Rainbow Clinician, Namrata Gulani. She’ll be riffing on the theme of corruption through the lens of 15+ years working in the mental health and addiction field. Always rad and totally free, snap up your free ticket then hightail it to GridAKL in Wynyard Quarter for an 8am start.
Level Up Your Doodling
Swap your screen for a pencil this Friday and try your hand at live drawing at the Auckland Art Gallery. These sessions are a great way to shake off any workday tensions by flexing your creativity in the gallery spaces of Tāmaki Makaurau’s art capital. You’ll be guided by observational drawing tutor, Abbey Lyman, and drawing materials are provided (but you’re welcome to bring your own provided they’re dry).
Feast On Tāmaki Makaurau’s Tastiest Food Trucks
The Food Truck Collective is slingin’ all your fave eats this weekend so head along to Milford Reserve for mouthwatering kai by Akemi’s Gyoza, Double Dutch Fries, Grownup Donuts, Sabores Spanish and Latin Cuisine and Taste of Rwanda. Culley’s sauce station will be on hand too, to keep things… saucy. Pups welcome, on leash.
Saturday 1 April
Frolic Through A Cookie Factory
Drop everything—The Vegan Treatory is having an open day and unicorns are real. Make your way to their factory in Silverdale from 9am to 1pm and load up on everything from red velvet cream cheese cookies to banoffee, hot cross bun cookies and everything in between. Whether you’re after Easter treats, some cheeky pre-Easter treats or just general treats, they’ve got you covered. Fair warning: you will want it all, and we 100% support that.
Fall Into A Sonic Wonderland
Ever wanted to hear Calvin Harris' One Kiss in C Minor with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra? Welcome to the world of Synthony—a worldwide movement that pairs famous orchestras with flat-cap-wearing DJs to host wall-to-wall banger fests. The boutique outdoor festival will transform the Auckland Domain into a full-blown multi-sensory extravaganza experience across two stages for seven hours of vibes. Rad.
Immerse In La Vie Française at a French Market
Not-for-profit French language and cultural centre Alliance Française is hosting their much-loved French Day and French Market this Saturday. Head along to their Remuera premise for artisanal delights and handcrafted creations like patisserie kits by Et Voilà!, award-winning French-inspired cheese by Anabelle, more crêpes than you can wave a baguette at, and even live music by The Tchin-Tchin.
Level Up Your Threads
The fashion industry has a bad rep, and for good reason—it’s been paying lip service to ethics and sustainability for years. Fortunately though, there’s a way you can refresh your wardrobe without the guilt. Enter the re:generate Fashion Market, a day of retro, vintage and pre-loved gems. And, if you’ve got some of your own pieces that you’re ready to part with, consider renting a rack at re:generate’s new pop-up shop in Takapuna.
See Rice In A New Light
Filipino artist, Louie Bretana, is asking people to set expectations of Euro-western society aside and gather on the floor feasting on Filipino food in the traditional way—off banana leaves without a fork in sight—in a free event called Eat My Rice: Food Culture Respect. A form of culinary decolonisation, as bellies fill you’ll chat about how food can shape cultural and social identities.
Take The Plunge
From Wim Hoff to Art Green, everybody seems to be into ice baths these days. If you want in, Well Me is hosting an Air, Fire & Ice Workshop at Next Generation Gym. Covering the famed Wim Hof Method breathwork along with sauna and meditation, and a 3-minute ice bath, this workshop’s sure to pack an icy punch. And if you ask really, really nicely they might play Let It Go.
Bust A Move
Get your groove on at Good As Gold Fest—a boutique day festival that will have you movin' and groovin' way into the night. Located at Mantells Tamaki Drive, take in the stunning views looking over the Waitemata Harbour whilst basking in the glorious sunshine and listening to some sweet tunes from Aotearoa’s finest acts. Brought to us by the good as folks at Wise Fools and Pals.
Sunday 2 April
Eat Your Way Through The Best Plant-Based Fare Around
Feast on the very best of plants with generous sides of electro-pop, live looping and deep grooves at the Auckland Vegan Food Truck Festival. Featuring the dairy-free cream of the crop of plant-based wizards including Vege Pulse, Vege Bang Bang, Lulus, Double Dutch Fries, Lalele Organic Gelato, Amaranto, Kookie Haus, Hash and Smash, Pioneer Pie and more, you’ll want to come very, very hungry. Entry is five bucks for adults and free for kids.
Knot Like There’s No Tomorrow
If you’ve got a Pinterest board bursting with all manner of macramé it’s high time you turned that inspo into skill with a lesson from The ReCreators, a social enterprise which promotes DIY upcycling and custom circular design. Kicking off at Blockhouse Bay Library at 1pm, this Macramé for Adults workshop will have you knotting your way to victory, leaving with a plant hanger you whipped up yourself. Naiiice.
Indulge In All The Treats, Because Easter
Easter is just around the corner and the Auckland Polish Association is putting on a Polish Easter Market to celebrate. Flock to Sandringham between 1 and 4pm this Saturday to get your mitts on artisan Polish handicrafts and traditional food like Kielbasa (sausage), sauerkraut, pierogi, Polish cakes, cheese and more. Wesołych Świąt!
Get Cultured
One of the things that makes Tāmaki Makaurau such an incredible city is its multiculturalism—this gorgeous city is home to over 200 ethnicities. World of Cultures is a 21-day-long event encouraging Aucklanders to celebrate this cultural vibrancy and this Sunday is Culturefest, a massive celebration including storytelling, comedy and panel discussions, over 100 stalls brimming with world food, arts, craft and fair trade goods, plus loads of performances and music.
Set Yourself Up For A Very Smooth Sunday
Pssst, secret New York-inspired cocktail bar, Caretaker, offers live jazz every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night from 9pm. The perfect tonic to a wild weekend, shimmy on over to the speakeasy for a total change of pace and unwind with tastebud-tingling cocktails and all the good vibes. Just please don’t ring the bell.
All Weekend
Prepare To Get Those Steps In
You’ve been training for this ever since you fell in love with your Fitbit, you just didn’t know it. 100k’s in 30 Days is a challenge to see how far you can move in 30 days-whether that’s walking, on wheels, on water, or any other way you can think of-to raise funds for breast cancer charities up and down the motu. Kicking off on 1 May, now’s your time to register, tell all your mates and start scheduling a bunch of brunch and walk dates.
Unleash Your Inner Petrolhead
Formula1 stans will be stoked to hear a Red Bull Energy Station is coming to Sweat Shop Brew Bar just in time for the Melbourne races. With drink and food specials, Red Bull Racing simulators, prizes and live music-not to mention all the Formula1 action-this gig’s set to be a doozy. Better still, it’ll be on repeat for the Japan and Las Vegas race weekends later in the year.
Get Lit At The Art Gallery
If, like us, you’re a bit of a moth to a neon flame, visit Light from Tate: 1700s to Now at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. With over 70 artworks curated from collections at The Tate in London including artists like Olafur Eliasson, Lilian Lin, and Pae White, expect immersive, multi-sensory vibes that play with light and darkness across painting, photography, sculpture, installation, drawing and moving image. This spellbinding exhibition is around until 25 June.
Unravel An Ancient Mystery
If you stan the famed stone circle, Stonehenge, will want to hightail it to Auckland Museum to get the down-low on some pretty spicy Stonehenge secrets. Delving into all the big questions—who built it, the intentions behind it, and its role as a domain of the dead-this world-class exhibition is a must-see. Around until 25 April 2023, it’s sure to rock (sorry not sorry).
All this planning of weekend antics left you a bit hangry? Wrap your mouth around the best food news in Aotearoa.
Image credit: Synthony.