The next five weeks are going to be tres busy for the discerning shopper. There are fairs galore. Here is a quick run down:
15th February – Craftwerk is on at the Southern Cross. An almost all new line-up of stalls will keep it fresh and interesting, and it is on from 5-9pm with bands.
17th February – Petone Fair. Jackson St will be chock full of everything from sausage sizzles, bouncy castles and ethnic food, to fab jewellery, clothes and gifts. Starts 10am. I recommend parking along the Esplanade and walking a couple of blocks to the fair.
17th February – The Big Bang is on at the NewDowse. This signals a month of exciting activities. A highlight will be The Real Hot Bitches performing a danceathon at 4pm.
3rd March – The second of the Martinborough Fairs is on. This is a repeat performance of the fair in February, with all the same fabulous food and stalls. It is a great opportunity to scope out some wineries while you’re over the hill. Martinborough Square.
10th March – Gay and Lesbian Fair, Newtown School. An array of stalls and activities. 9am-4pm
17th March – Whoop! Craft2.0 is going to be on at the NewDowse in Lower Hutt. This fabulous fair is the culmination of a month of activities at the NewDowse to celebrate its renovations. There will be the finest craft from around the country and hot bands. More information on this exciting event will be updated every 2 minutes (heh).
TheNewDowse is due to re-open on February 17th. There are exciting activities planned for the 4 weeks following, culminating in da da da dah! Craft2.0.
Craft2.0 is going to be on the 17th of March, and will be a craftacular, a spectacraft, if you will.
There will be bands, and a terrific array of local crafty goodies. I will be there with Babylicious, SuperVery will have fabulous jewellery, magnets and badges, tres talented Sam Broad will have some of his delicious prints and frames, and the original John Campbell t shirts by Hadyn will have a starring role. It is all dead exciting.
If they** are correct then it’s gonna be a weekend of indoor activities this weekend and here at Wellingtonista Towers we are great advocates of NOT sitting around and merely watching the goggle-box.
And so, how could you entertain yourselves, little people under your command and those out-of-town visitors you’ve been supplied with? How about these to get the creative juices flowing:
And if none of these grab you by the fancy parts then check out the following excellent “what’s on” sites
Want to know what the New Year holds? Well, come along to What’s UP – 2007 on Thursday the 24th to hear predictions for 2007 from a group of infallible experts: or “bloggers”, as we like to call ourselves.
A group of more-or-less well-known local bloggers (including the (in)famous DPF, Tom “WellUrban” Beard, techno-prophet Hamish McEwan and Mr Geekzone himself, Mauricio Freitas), will make rash forecasts about the Internet, gadgets & games, business and telecommunications, technology and (my particular field) Wellington & NZ.
Andrew Brettell, theatre visuals designer extraordinaire, turns his hand to something a little more ethereal this weekend, when he’s planning to ‘haunt’ the renowned Futuna Chapel up in Karori. Just what this entails we’re not sure, but there’ll almost certainly be a few ghosts floating around the place, and there’s also a talk at 8:30pm each night from Nick Blake about the chapel’s architecture.
When: Fri Dec 15th – Sun Dec 17th, 10am – 10pm
Where: Futuna Chapel, 62 Friend Street, Karori
How much: Free!
[Hat-tip: No Right Turn]
Here’s a bit of fun to be had – the Star Boating Club (that’s that cool place by the lagoon that you’ve probably attended more than a few weddings at, or other occasions & got yourself completely trashed & may or may not have ended up in the water in your dinner suit or ball gown…) in conjunction with Wellington Girls College, Queen Margaret’s College and Wellington College, is holding a 20 hour Row-A-Thon to raise funds for the current season of races, regattas & camps.
It takes place at the Reading Complex Foyer (Courtney Place) between 4pm Friday December 8, and Noon Saturday December 9.
And what is a Row-A-Thon when it’s at home? Well… they’re putting 3 ERG machines (that’s shorthand for Rowing Machine apparently – I’m not sure if it is acronymous, or if it represents the noise the average person makes while being subjected to operating it), one will be operated continuously for 20 hours by the boys’ teams, another by the girls, and the third dear reader, is for you to have a go at.
The rowers have been diligently scouring their neighbourhoods, families, and families’ business colleagues getting sponsorship, and on the day, those not ERGing will be shaking tins & persuading punters to part with a little Xmas dosh. All for a good cause – those ERGs & the boats don’t grow on trees you know.
So head on down for a look – 91FM & the Black Thunders will be down there at 4pm Friday dispensing cheer & freestuff – or if you happen to be passing, please do donate a little spare for, as I may have mentioned, a very good cause.
And of course, you have the opportunity to try an ERG for yourself. It has to be good for you right?, and there is almost no chance you’ll end up in the lagoon. Bonus.
By now you’ve either cast your votes for the First Annual Wellingtonista Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, or you’re still trying to decide whether you <3 Good Luck or San Frindigo more. You might want to get a wriggle on with that, as voting closes at 5pm on Thursday.
Thanks very much for voting, it’s very choice that you got involved. If you’d like to get even more involved with us (ooer!), please come along to our awards ceremony at Mighty Mighty (above Mr Bun in Cuba Mall) on Friday night.
Drinks will start out at 6.30pm and the awards themselves will probably kick off around 7pm.
If you haven’t met us yet, you’ll be able to spot us easily as we’ll be the ridiculously attractive people patting ourselves on the back.
We’ll be drawing names for prizes then too, but as we are good people your attendance is not mandatory in order to win. However, what possible reason could you have for not wanting to attend?
If you would like to buy us drinks, naturally a dry martini would be the standard, but we imagine that we would drink pretty much anything you gave us.
It should all be a frightfully good time, and we look forward to seeing you there.
The Settlers Museum is hosting the MUKA YOUTH PRINT EXHIBITION 2006.
The exhibition features a collection of forty original lithographs by twenty prominent artists from New Zealand, Australia and Europe.
The exhibition is unique in that it is only open to young people aged 5 to 18. The idea is that young people are given the opportunity to see, select and buy an art work that they like, uninfluenced by adults or the name of the artist. All the works reflect the normal style of the artists and there is no “talking down†to the children.
The uniform low price means that this is an excellent way for young people to get real works of art into their hands.
Settlers Museum
The Esplanade
Petone
25 and 26 November
12 noon – 5pm
In your spare moments not spent at Craftwerk this weekend, you may like to come out to sunny Hutt City for the Mother Baby and Child Show. This free event features an array of exhibits from enterprising mothers (catchily titled Mumz Biz).
Not wishing to pimp my own ride too much, watch me pimp my ride. Babylicious will be there, as will uber-local-clever-evil-bears, the Scrappers.
Horticultural Hall, Laings Road, Lower Hutt.
Sunday, October 22nd – 10.30am to 5.00pm
Monday, October 23rd – 10.00am to 5.00pm
What do ya mean, funny? Let me understand this cause, I don’t know maybe it’s me, I’m a little fucked up maybe, but I’m funny how? I mean, funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh… I’m here to fuckin’ amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?
Errr, that’s not really relevant, but it is a good scene.
Anyway, if you think you are funny, register yourself for the Wellington Comedy Club’s Rookie competition, taking place at the San Francisco Bathhouse on October 21st (as per the Comedy Club’s website), or maybe the the 19th of October (as per Newtown Ghetto Anger’s website). Head over to the Wellington Comedy Club website for more details.
There’s also a related workshop for budding comedians to hone their skills – a one hour session with some local pros on the 12th of October, again at the SF Bathhouse. More details on that at Newtown Ghetto Anger.
