This year marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Central Hawke's Bay township of Waipukurau and a packed calendar of events is planned to celebrate the milestone.
A community group, led by CHB district councillor Gerard Minehan, has been formed to organise the events marking the original purchase of the land by Henry Robert Russell who then established Waipukurau as a model village.
The events will largely take place over Labour Weekend and be built into the Central Hawke's Bay 'Spring Fling' programme to allow both local people and visitors to be involved in the occasion.
The celebrations officially kick off this Sunday at the Central Hawke's Bay Settlers Museum with the opening of a major exhibition 'Celebrating 150 years Waipukurau'.
The exhibition will run from March until October and the opening will also launch 'Fading Memories - Waipukurau - Our town in the 1920 - 1935 era', a book by the late J MacKenzie Hamlin.
Museum curator and manager Jana Uhlirova said the museum team was excited to be launching celebrations and giving the public a chance to share Waipukurau's rich and proud history.