'Real celebration': Mini fans' charity drive raises thousands for KidsCan

Due to popular demand, Frances Hodgkins, Anything but a Still Life will have an encore screening at The Dome Cinema on Sunday at 6.30pm. Director Blandine Massiet du Biest, who was in Gisborne for the first screening, was thrilled to get a full...

The Te Puka tavern in Tokomaru Bay hosted music royalty on Monday night when Six60 played a sold-out gig as part of their Grassroots Tour. Te Puka Tavern GM Chris Woodney said the concert was a huge success and everything went off without a hitch...

Mātai Medical Research Institute’s new building on Childers Road was formally opened yesterday by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, in front of a large crowd of politicians, civil servants, medical people, community stakeholders...

Gisborne artist Tyler Wray is a finalist in the prestigious Adam Portraiture Award after being selected from a record-breaking number of entries. The 19-year-old has always loved to draw and paint but said the portrait was the first large scale...

A new performance piece by celebrated musician, producer and innovator Tiki Taane(Ngati Maniapoto) and multidisciplinary artist Kereama Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Ati Awa), Mai te Uira, combines digital visual art with music in a progressive and...

Gisborne International Music Competition Trust and Chamber Music New Zealand are striking the right note through a programme to promote musical engagement at community level. “The GIMC Trust has been working with Chamber Music New Zealand over the...

The cast of colourful characters in The Vicar of Dibley plays are back together again, in the latest offering from Musical Theatre Gisborne, with first-time director Jill White putting her own mark on the production. The Holy Trinity is the third...

Prepare to be wowed by a new exhibition celebrating women by Māhia artist Rosie Symes which opened at the Matawhero Art Gallery this week. The theme is Wāhine Toa with large portraits of mainly Māori women depicted in mixed media. Displayed...

Evolution Theatre founder Dinna Myers is back in the director’s chair — this time working on the popular American play 12 Angry Jurors. 12 Angry Jurors is a play that contemplates the huge responsibility of 12 ordinary people as they consider...

The number of children on the waiting list for Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Gisborne Tairāwhiti is growing, and new mentors are needed. Kim Parkinson talked to coordinator Tiffany Zyp on the programme’s one-year anniversary. Tiffany Zyp...

Getting children and adults alike excited about science is the aim of Whizz Bang Science creator Emma Lucas’ show which she is bringing to Gisborne next week. The Unbelieve-a-Bubble Science Show has inspired sold-out audiences across the North...

Aspiring musical theatre performers had a chance to strut their stuff on Tuesday night at a dance workshop ahead of auditions for Priscilla Queen of the Desert — The Musical. Director and choreographer Dean McKerras was in town to take the...

Gisborne’s Combined Secondary Schools Orchestra got a bit of helping hand last weekend when they received expert tutoring from musicians from the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

Expect some top notch live music to go with the cold brews at the 5th Annual Gisborne Beer Festival coming to the Gisborne Soundshell on Easter Saturday. Festival-goers are promised a selection of beers from some of New Zealand’s top breweries and...

by Kim Parkinson Please Adjust Your G-String” is the story of a hilarious OE experience, with a difference. Margaret Austin left New Zealand in 1975 with no idea what lay ahead on the other side of the world. Blessed — or cursed — with a sense...

Joint art exhibition brings Māori and Japanese culture together.

by Kim Parkinson On a sunny day out at Kirkpatrick Feed Supplies in Patutahi it is hard to imagine the flood-ravaged scene of a year ago after Cyclone Gabrielle. Through sheer determination and hard work, haymakers Andrew and Tracy Kirkpatrick have...

Six60 guitarist Ji Fraser has come a long way since he played in a rock band at Ilminster Intermediate. Back then he would never have imagined he’d be the founding member of one of the country’s most successful bands, the first band to ever play...

A new state-of-the-art honey extraction facility opened at Te Araroa early in February bringing together Ngati Porou people, landowners and resident apiculture businesses across the mānuka honey value chain. The partnership between Nati Growth...

New Zealand’s sexiest and most successful comedy of all time is about to get its gear off again when Gisborne Centre Stage bring Ladies Night to Lawson Field Theatre next month. Director Lawrence Mulligan says the production is “in good shape”...

"Picasso once said there is nothing original in art, whether it is the work of another artist or the problem raised by an artist’s previous work, the possibility of a new work has been sparked. That has been the process that has led to the...

For Gisborne artist Veronika Lambert, her immediate environment of Okitu provides ample inspiration for her landscape oil and acrylic paintings. “I like to capture a mood or atmosphere in my paintings and the ever-changing light on the coast...

Set at the family bach at an East Coast community, Evolution Theatre’s Beachfront Reality is the new, and first, offering from local playwright Susan Partington. She has given us something that is instantly relatable and highly entertaining. From...

Beachfront Reality, the new play by local writer Susan Partington, will have its world premiere tonight at Gisborne’s Evolution Theatre. Director Danielle Siata said it was a huge change from her role directing the Jersey Boys show last year...

Developing a strategy — and ultimately a dedicated organisation — to promote and support music in Tairāwhiti has been a passion project for Gisborne publican and musician Darryl Monteith. It led him to source funding to conduct a comprehensive...

Stand-up comedy, burlesque dancers and frank discussions about often taboo subjects like menopause, sex and relationships were all on the menu for the more than 300 women from around New Zealand who gathered for the inaugural Shepherdess Muster at...

A new play, Beachfront Reality, set at a bach in an East Coast community, will have its world premiere at Evolution Theatre on February 22. It is the first full-length play to be produced in Gisborne as a result of the East Coast Scribes programme...

Barry Ball’s exhibition opening this weekend at Tairāwhiti Museum is a retrospective encounter and celebration of decades of persistent and relentless pursuit of a life of creativity by a dedicated and true artist. It is with a curious sense for...

It’s time to warm up the voice box and channel your inner “Queen”. Gisborne theatre group Centre Stage will soon be running auditions for their 2024 production of We Will Rock You. We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical based on the songs of...

Gisborne rock band Lazy Fifty will play their farewell show at The Dome this Saturday before Adrian Athy heads to England with his wife/band manager Kerry to pursue music there. The gig, with opening act UNI-FI, will also be a chance for the two...

The annual Full Moon Party returns to Smash Palace this Saturday, January 27. Bringing the community together with local DJs and performers, this very special event has been held in Gisborne every summer since 2017. The outdoor/indoor event features...

A local has won the gruelling but stunningly picturesque First Light Marathon for the second year running, with Simon Bousfield taking the title on Saturday in a time of three hours 44 minutes and 20 seconds. Real estate agent Bousfield was third...

A field of around 300 runners set off at daybreak today in the second First Light Marathon to be held in Te Tairāwhiti. Of those, around 100 are doing the full marathon (42.2 kilometres) and the rest are taking on the half-marathon option. Thirty...

PAULNACHE gallery presents a spliced selection of significant paintings by leading contemporary artist John Walsh and emerging Wairoa-based artist Joanna Abraham Joseph, in response to the dramatic cyclone and climate change events felt around the...

February 13-14 marks a year since the home of Gisborne family Rachel and Clint Daly and their children Tayne (23) and Kalea (18) was destroyed in the path of Cyclone Gabrielle. After six months in Australia, Rachel and Clint returned on New Year’s...

The weekend is shaping up to be a goodie with a smorgasbord of local bands serving up a feast of classic rock called Summer Soundscape at Smash Palace on Saturday. Event organiser and musician Vincent Hogan said people could expect a diverse range...

Gisborne residents and visitors to the region now have the opportunity to see a selection of the best works from Toihoukura — School of Māori Visual Arts in an exhibition at Tairāwhiti Museum. Named Uruhau — the exhibition is a celebration of...

Georgia Ria had the home birth she had always wanted on Wednesday when baby Gideon Ria entered the world at 10.26pm — the first baby to be born in Gisborne in 2024. “I had always wanted a home birth but was always nervous that something could go...

Multimedia artist Michelle Hinekura Kerr is a kairaranga, who descends from a whānau of weavers. Her art practice embraces the intergenerational continuity of traditional mātauranga (knowledge). Drawing on the learnings of her ancestry (Te Aitang...

Motu is getting ready to host The Shepherdess Muster in February, a first-of-its-kind festival where women can leave their cares behind and indulge in a long weekend of creative endeavours, entertainment, workshops and more. The immersive festival...

The Shepherdess Muster, a first-of-its-kind festival coming to Motu in February, will be giving away six ticket scholarships to people living in Tairāwhiti or the Ōpōtiki or Wairoa districts. “We’re so stoked to have the opportunity to offer...

Coming-of-age music festival is itself set to come of age.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. But instead of a traditional Northern Hemisphere scene featuring fake snow and Santa’s sleigh, think the usually big man in red in a Christmas-themed matching shirt and shorts, sitting beside...

Adel Salmanzadeh came to Aotearoa from Iran as a Baha’i refugee youth in 1989. He met his Maori Samoan wife Maxine at the refugee camp in Mangere, Auckland, and they married in 1998. His two children Carmel and Haami share his passion and talent...

Frocks on Fridays has some exciting events coming up starting with a polo match and family barbecue tomorrow at the Poverty Bay Polo Club. Frocks on Fridays (FOF) founder Jo McLean said the event would have a “day at the races” kind of vibe and...

REVIEW A festive environment is the backdrop of the latest murder mystery by Dorothy M Fletcher where the cast of Usual Suspects is a group of carol singers — the Golden Years Fun Club — enjoying the aftermatch party at a winery. In the first...

Don’t be deceived by appearances. Dorothy M Fletcher may seem like a mild mannered, choral-singing retiree, but in truth she has a penchant for murder . . . Dorothy has written Caroling Catastrophe which opens at Unity Theatre tonight. She is the...

Dudley Meadows, curator of the Millard Studio exhibition at Tairāwhiti Museum, will give a floor talk at the museum on Sunday, January 21, where he will share some of the untold stories behind the photographs. He will also give more background...

Art panels inspired by the concept of kaitiakitanga or guardianship and produced by a group of Year 10 art students will soon have pride of place in the school hall at Gisborne Girls’ High School. The art project involved a lot of research and...

Gisborne surfer and Olympic hopeful Saffi Vette has had a busy couple of months, chasing the swell in Taranaki and Raglan and competing at the World Surf League (WSL) qualifying event at Jinzun, Taiwan last month. After recovering from a torn MCL...

A devastating fire and the February floods have tested the Newman family over the past couple of years but with their new H1 packhouse up and running and the prices looking good for their citrus, they are hoping for happier, less stressful days...

Tolaga Bay blueberry growing operation Hauiti Berries is on track to meet harvest targets this year, with good-quality fruit and a full picking team. It is coming to the end of harvest, which started in August and runs through until the end of...

Gisborne hip hop duo 98 Cents have followed up their world championships performances with individual success at the Battle in the Bay in Hastings last weekend. Paul Hawaikirangi was first in the open solo section while his 98 Cents partner Kylah...

Since retiring in 2015, artist Norman Maclean has been able to devote a lot more time to his art. The result is a large body of work made up of recent paintings and prints as well as others that date back to 20 years ago. They will all be part of...

Art studios and gardens at Wainui and Okitu welcomed hundreds of visitors for the She Shed Tour on Sunday with more than 30 artists taking part in what has become a popular annual event. People enjoyed a social day out in the sun perusing and...

REVIEW A show for the whole family and that the kids will love — that’s School of Rock, the Musical Theatre Gisborne production which opens tonight at the War Memorial Theatre. The show opens with Dewey Finn, played by Kevin Harrard, playing...

Described as a “national treasure” and “New Zealand’s most indispensable ensemble”, NZTrio is renowned for its eclectic repertoire, outstanding talent and warm Kiwi stage presence. Bringing together three incredibly accomplished artists...

Budding actors from Ilminster Intermediate and Gisborne Intermediate came together for a friendly competition in Theatresports on Monday and while they weren’t being judged or marked, they tried their hardest to outperform the opposition...

Dancer and choreographer Kayla Paige has worked in the USA, Australia and Europe, but nothing compares to being part of the creative team at World of Wearable Arts (WOW) of Wellington where she has worked as a choreographer for the last two years...

A striking selection of artworks by senior art students at Gisborne Girls’ High School including painting and photography is part of a special exhibition opening at the school tonight. Prints of the artworks have been hung on the walls of the...

Six new artists will join the She Shed Tour this year extending the already wide offering of more than 30 artists who show their arts and crafts on the tour. The first is Steph Barnett, a visual artist, animator and educator whose work orients...