Vot­ing in the Fourth Annu­al Welling­ton­ista Awards is open from Decem­ber 1–15. Then come find out the results at our Awards Night at Mighty Mighty on Decem­ber 17!

To vote, vis­it this page.

There are things that hap­pen in Welling­ton that make us break out the big thick per­ma­nent mark­ers to cir­cle those dates on the cal­en­dar, and these are the pick of those events.

World of Wear­ableArt: Some peo­ple go to WOW for the range of visu­al­ly stun­ning wear­able art cre­ations, oth­ers go to be thrilled by the amaz­ing stage­craft in the show. Either way, WOW is a key event on Welling­ton’s cre­ative cal­en­dar. It’s not just for the 40,000 peo­ple who get tick­ets to the show at TSB Are­na either — parades and exhi­bi­tions of pre­vi­ous win­ners make the art more acces­si­ble to all of Welling­ton, and restau­rants step up to the chal­lenge of mak­ing edi­ble art as well.

Sev­ens: Say what you like (and believe me, we do) about this booze-soaked fes­ti­val of con­formist wack­i­ness, it may be the clos­est that Welling­to­ni­ans get to the tru­ly unbri­dled spir­it of Carnevale. Even if you’re not a fan of rug­by, Borat and slut­ty nurs­es, you can’t deny that it’s the biggest par­ty in town.

cuba street carnivalCuba Car­ni­val: Cuba Street is often con­sid­ered to be Welling­ton’s most colour­ful street, so when it throws a car­ni­val every two years, you know it’s going to be amaz­ing. 2009 gave us bands, mar­kets, food on sticks, car­ni­val rides, drum­mers and a night parade — pret­ty much some­thing for every­one. It is a beau­ti­ful thing to watch the streets come alive.  

All Whites’ World Cup Qual­i­fi­er: With the Phoenix Yel­low Fever sup­port­ers trans­form­ing them­selves into White Noise and scores of foot­ball sup­port­ers don­ning white gear, the scene was set for a remark­able sport­ing event. The All Whites did the hard work, earn­ing a his­toric vic­to­ry that’ll take them to the World Cup, but the fired-up crowd at West­pac Are­na were an audi­ence that only Welling­ton could pro­vide.

Red HarbourPelor­ous Trust Fire­works: Sure, we can only buy fire­works our­selves for three days a year now, and we can’t buy rock­ets or dou­ble hap­pys or any of the fun stuff because of idiots, so it’s good to know that we can still get our bang on for free on Novem­ber 5. Town fills up with peo­ple, you can see the bangs from as far as New­town or Ngaio (and prob­a­bly beyond, but that’s as far as we ven­ture) and the show lights up the sky for free. Love­ly.