We all had a com­pletely bril­liant time on Thursday night at the TAWAs!

It was great to see so many of y’all along there, along with the awe­some nom­in­ees and a few celebrity guests (not that Wel­ling­ton has any actu­al celebrit­ies, but, you know…)

Thanks to our fab­ulous spon­sors who gave us swag and prizes

And thanks also to Wel­ling­ton Cent­ral MP Grant Robertson for present­ing the Wel­ling­to­ni­an of the Year award, which went to Cal­lum Brown of Green Cabs.

After the awards, we relaxed to the lazy sounds of The Lone­some Cow­boy, and then danced up a storm to Bun­nies on Ponies, who ended their set with a v. swin­gor­il­liant cov­er of Dire Straits ‘Sul­tans of Swing’.

It was a super even­ing, and now that our Fri­day post-TAWAs fug has worn off, we’re look­ing for­ward to the 2009 TAWAs.

All that remains now is to cel­eb­rate this year’s win­ners. We encour­age you to sup­port these busi­ness and places (in fact, all the nom­in­ees are awe­some), as they’re all part of why Wel­ling­ton is such an excel­lent town.

The 2008 Wel­ling­tonista Award Win­ners

BEST CHEAP EATS
Satay King­dom

BEST UN-CHEAP EATS
Floriditas

BEST LATE-NIGHT VENUE
Mighty Mighty

BEST DRINK IN TOWN
The Mega Mai Tai at the Mat­ter­horn

BEST PLACE TO SHAKE YOUR THANG
Mighty Mighty

BEST SUBURBAN DESTINATION
Maranui Cafe

BEST NON-DRINKING DESTINATION
The Botan­ic Gar­dens

BEST CLOTHING RETAILER
Zig­gur­at

BEST SHOP
Unity Books

BEST PUBLIC SPACE
Wait­angi Park

BEST ART EXPERIENCE
The Lumin­ous Stick­ers of New­town

MOST NEEDED
A 24-hour diner

BEST COFFEE
Peoples Cof­fee, New­town

BEST SERVICE
The McK­en­zie Broth­ers at the Hawthorn Lounge

BEST CONTRIBUTION BY A WELLINGTONIAN TO THE INTERNET
The Wel­ling­ton Flickr group

BEST REGULAR ENTERTAINMENT
Films at the Archive

BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE
The Phoenix Found­a­tion in Frank Kitts Park

BEST WELLINGTON-BASED EVENT
World of Wear­able Art

WELLINGTONIAN OF THE YEAR
Cal­lum Brown: Green Cabs

Update

Video blog­ger Mico from The Sidestrip has made a cool little video about the TAWAs. It’s just like being there, only without the sen­sa­tion of hav­ing drunk too much.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhfEffnLC‑s]