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.

Although we might not always celebrate them as much as we would a new bar or great restaurant, we know that there are times when you need to get out and do things that don’t revolve entirely around a drink. These are the places we like to head at those times.

Wellington Central Library: When Alexandria was sacked in AD 642, the library was destroyed along with its contents, helping accelerate the Dark Ages. In a similar way, the loss of our fantastic library would plunge Wellington into darkness. A previous winner of the Wellingtonista’s Best Building award, the library is a treat for the eyes on the outside and treat for the every other sense on the inside.

zooWellington Zoo: If the world is getting you down a bit, you need to head out to Newtown where otters will come running for your attention, giraffes will stick their tongues out at you and other animals will also perform similarly adorable feats. It’s hard to be a hater when you’ve spent time hanging out with a red panda, after all.

The Film Archive: Ahh, the Film Archive. That great white monolith on the corner of Taranaki and Ghuznee St. You can officially drink there (there’s a range of beer and wine available) but more than that it combines a cinema, a contemporary art gallery, a moving image library and literally hundreds of viewing hours available for free. There’s also a great cafe with wifi, the perfect place for a quiet meeting, and a TV Lounge where you can take some time out from the hustle and bustle.

Markets by RobynHarbourside Market @ Waitangi Park: It’s nice that a sign of how sophisticated a city is involves going back in time to when people did their shopping outdoors, buying directly from the farmers who grew the produce themselves. Some people love the harbourside markets for the frugalness, some people love it for the cheese. We love it because it’s a lively place to spend a Saturday morning, full of delicious treats.

The wind turbine, Brooklyn: If you want spectacular views, the wind turbine has them in large amounts. If you like sustainable power generation, this is the temple for you to worship at. If you like a challenging walk or bike ride, come up here – or if you’re lazy, the road is paved the whole way for your car too. Everybody wins!