Old year out, new year in - three weeks of events in Hawke’s Bay

Fireworks displays in Napier help tens of thousands celebrate New Year's Eve. Photo / Paul Taylor

The weather forecast might not be typically Hawke’s Bay December and January, but there are plenty of events scheduled rain, hail or shine.

Some are daily or nightly happenings, such as the Fiesta of Lights at Waikoko Gardens, Tomoana Showgrounds, Hastings from 9pm-11pm, with entry fee.

It started as a test run for the massive millennium celebrations and has kept going, getting bigger and bigger each year.

Then there’s what some say is one of Hawke’s Bay’s hidden secrets, the Faraday Centre in Napier, Hawke’s Bay’s museum of technology, which will have an added attraction in the Bricks and Pieces Challenge days each Saturday in January from 10am, where children can play their own parts in the realm of innovation.

Concerts are daily events, with the highlights being UB40, Jefferson Starship and Dragon at Church Road Winery on Thursday, and Nestfest at the showgrounds in Hastings on January 14, preludes to such big events as L.A.B at the showgrounds a week later, Lorde at Black Bar inHavelock North at the start of March, and the Mission Estate concerts: Sting on March 4, Rod Stewart on April 8 and Robbie Williams’ two concerts in November.

Other highlights include two horse racing meetings this week, at Woodville on Tuesday and the New Year’s Eve races in Hastings on Saturday, along with the Hawke’s Bay Rowing Club’s annual rowing regatta on the Clive River on January 2-3.

The biggest of all is expected to be the New Year’s Eve celebration on Marine Parade, where the havoc of the 1960s-1980s resulted in public New Year’s Eve celebrations on the oceanfront street being scrapped for several years, until the celebrations on the night of December 31, 1999, which ushered in not only the new millennium but also a new era of festivities. These are now an annual family celebration with two fireworks displays, one at 9.45pm and one at midnight.

Hawke’s Bay Today introduces readers to some of the events over the next three weeks:

December 27 (Tuesday): Woodville races, 12.30pm-4.30pm, entry free; Meeanee Speedway - HB Superstock and Youth Ministock Champs, Streetstock Best Pairs and Demolition Derby; Big Blue Blanket 25th anniversary reunion, Hygge at Clifton Bay. Local ‘90′s punk rock band Big Blue Blanket return for a one-off show, and guests Devils Elbow, Sarah Wiig, Paddy and The Cryptids.

December 28 (Wednesday): Hygge Festive Twilight Session, Hayley and Daniel Munro and Playing Mantis; Mahia Boating and Fishing Club family fishing competition, register Tuesday 5-8pm.

December 29 (Thursday): 4.30pm, UB40, Jefferson Starship, Dragon, at Church Road Winery, Taradale; Twilight Session - Henry & Laura and Groove Foundation, 468 Clifton Rd, Te Awanga, Hastings.

December 30 (Friday): Twilight Session - Hidden Agenda and Naked Gunn, 468 Clifton Rd, Te Awanga, Hastings. Gates open 1.30pm.

December 31 (Saturday): 11am, Hawke’s Bay New Year’s Eve Races; Whanau Market Day, Rongomaraeroa Marae, Porangahau, 9am-Midday.

New Year’s Eve

Napier’s New Year’s Eve: Entertainment from 7pm, two fireworks displays, at 9.45pm and midnight, no alcohol, Marine Parade Soundshell.

Hastings: Fiesta of Lights, opens 9pm, with fireworks at 9.45pm.

Wairoa: Wairoa Club Summer Party, best-dressed, karaoke, from 6pm.

Southern Hawke’s Bay: New Year’s Party, Wellington Band Outrageous Fortunes, Herbertville Inn, from 9pm;

New Year’s Eve Disco, at The Cabana, from 8pm.

New Year’s Eve at Clubs Hastings, old favourites with local band Lovejoy.

Havelock North, with Scarlett Eden Band and Friends, Peak House, from 6pm.

The Cabana, Napier: New Year’s Eve Disco, from 8pm.

January 2-3 (Monday-Tuesday): Hawke’s Bay Cup rowing regatta, Clive River.

January 2-4 (Monday-Wednesday): Waipukurau Vintage Fair, at Memorial Hall, Waipukurau.

January 3-6 (Tuesday-Friday): Napier Sailing Club 2023 Paper Tiger National Championship and International Selection Trials.

January 4 (Wednesday): Mahia Boating and Fishing Club Kids Beach Fun Day, beach dig, sand castles, dinghy races, from 9.30am; Meeanee Speedway - HB TQ Midget Championships, Sidecar Best Pairs and Sprintcars.

January 5 (Thursday): Juicy Fest, Nelly, Ne-Yo and Ja Rule followed by Chingy, Xzibit, Pretty Ricky, Mya, Twista, Bow Wow and Lloyd, Tremain Field, Park Island, Napier, from 2pm; Mahia Boating and Fishing Club Ladies’ Fishing Comp, registration Wednesday 5-8pm.

January 5-24: Hawke’s Bay Summer Cricket Camps.

January 6 (Friday): HDL Summer Holidays Frankentoys, Civic Square, Warren St, Hastings. Calling all Frankenstein scientists and monster makers: With old toys, imagination and a lot of glue, join us to make a new crop of nightmare toys. From 2pm.

January 7 (Saturday): Mahia Boating and Fishing Club, Family Fishing Comp, registration Friday 5-8pm.

January 8 (Sunday): Wizards Escape Room, Public Library, Herschell St, Napier, from 9.30am (repeats on January 15).

January 11 (Wednesday, daily to January 21): Singing School NZ Te Wananga Toi Waiata - Breaking Barriers!, at EIT, Taradale; Summer Fun at Park, Island, Napier. Scavenger hunt and other fun, from 10am; Kart making and racing - HDL Summer Holidays Mario Kart IRL v2.0, Civic Square, Warren St, Hastings. HDL Summer Holidays offering! Registration is required. From 5.45pm.

January 12 (Thursday): Mini-whare making – HDL Summer Holidays Whare Building Workshop, Havelock North Library, from 10am; Teddy Bears’ Picnic and Teddy Bear Sleepover, Taradale Library, from midday. Bring a picnic lunch and your favourite stuffed toy, enjoy stories, songs and games, and leave your toys behind for a library sleepover with their new friends, pick up the stuffed toy the next morning to see what they got up to overnight; Concert – Botanic Beats, at Napier Botanical Garden, 6pm-8pm.

January 13 (Friday): Mermaid story time, Taradale Library, from 11am; Back Yard Blues Festival 2023, The Filter Room, from 1pm.

January 13-14 (Friday-Saturday): Meeanee Speedway - New Zealand TQ Midget Champs - Qualifying and East Coast Streetstock Championships.

January 13 (Saturday, daily to February 10): Story walk on Marine Parade, from 9am.

January 14 (Saturday): Nestfest Concert, Tomoana Showgrounds, Hastings. Over 50 acts - indie rock, hip-hop, dance, soul, punk and comedy; Elsthorpe Sports, Elsthorpe Sports Grounds, Kahuranaki Rd, Otane; Legends of Yesteryear shearing, The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Porangahau; Frank Talbot Quartet - Album Release, Spaceship, Karamu Rd, Hastings. From 8pm.

January 14-15 (Saturday-Sunday): Cycling – Hawke’s Bay Tour, 9am, from Ohiti Station Woolshed.