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.