There’s more than $9 million in total stakes and prizes on offer across Barfoot and Thompson Champions Day.
There’s more than $9 million in total stakes and prizes on offer across Barfoot and Thompson Champions Day.
Autumn is upon us and the outdoor events in Tāmaki Makaurau are starting to wind down. It’s the last weekend of the Moana Auckland Festival this weekend and Music In Parks is on the home stretch so take advantage of these events before they’re gone with the sun. There’s still plenty to keep your weekend busy though, including Champions Day at Ellerslie Racecourse, Cross Street Music Festival and multiple events for the Auckland Arts Festival. Plus, if you need something to look forward to, plan yourself a South Island escape to the upcoming Wānaka Festival of Colour. Here’s our top picks of things to do in Auckland this weekend.
1) Barfoot & Thompson Champions Day
If you’re partial to a little flutter, Saturday’s Barfoot & Thompson Champions Day is the place to indulge. There’s over $9 million in total stakes and prizes on offer across the day, which makes it the highest-valued race day in New Zealand history. It’s a festive day of action with whānau-friendly activities, the hotly contested Ned Prix de Fashion best-dressed competition and the Grand Tour Racing Festival, which includes an after-party featuring UK artist Jax Jones and DJs all day. Fish out your fascinator, rally your squad and trot on down to Ellerslie Racecourse for an afternoon of equine entertainment.
When: March 8, gates open 11am, first race 12.15pm.
Price: Tickets start at $25 GA, under 15s free, half-price GA for Gold Card holders from aucklandracing.co.nz.
2) Cross Street Music Festival
Cross Street Music Festival is the perfect setting for a celebration of eclectic and adventurous emerging and established local acts.
You may have missed out on early bird pricing but you haven’t missed out on the opportunity to make this Saturday evening a truly memorable one by heading along to the Cross Street Music Festival. Cross Street, the grimy (in a cool way) backstreet behind K Rd, has hosted this all-local music festival since 2018 and it’s the perfect setting for a celebration of eclectic and adventurous emerging and established local acts. This year’s festival is themed Out of this World and the lineup includes CHAII, Sea Mouse, Who Shot Scott, Blake, Ardon England, Caru & Brandn Shiraz, Mammalien, Lips and more. If you want to be at the epicentre of the edgy local music scene, then there is nowhere else to go this weekend.
A Mixtape for Maladies was written by acclaimed Sri Lankan writer Ahi Karunaharan.
Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival kicked off this week, and one of the productions that has garnered our attention is A Mixtape for Maladies by Auckland Theatre Company and Agaram Productions. Written by acclaimed Sri Lankan writer Ahi Karunaharan, the play spans decades, going back to 1950s Sri Lanka and up to present-day Aotearoa, where Deepan finds an old mixtape of his mother’s, one of the only remnants of her life back in Sri Lanka. As he plays each song - from Dusty Springfield to La Bamba - Deepan uncovers the story of what happened to his mother, Sangeetha, from falling in love to facing a civil war. It’s the third and final play in Karunaharan’s trilogy, which began with Tea and The Mourning After. Starring Ambika G.K.R, Ravikanth Gurunathan, Shaan Kesha, Gemma-Jayde Naidoo, Tiahli Martyn, and Bala Murali Shingade, the production is running throughout the festival at ASB Waterfront Theatre and is a highlight of the programme.
Price: Tickets start at $22 + booking fees from atc.co.nz.
4) Women’s Work: In(visible)
Women’s Work is a photography initiative that aims to highlight and advocate for women and non-binary photographers in New Zealand. Photo / Sacha Stejko
This weekend is your only chance to see the latest exhibition by Women’s Work, In(visible). Women’s Work is a photography initiative that aims to highlight and advocate for women and non-binary photographers in New Zealand. Currently, only about 14% of commercial photographers in this country are women. Taking place at The Tuesday Club, In(visible) is more than images alone, it features more than 40 photographs, workshops, artist talks and panel discussions. On Saturday, there will be two artist talk sessions as well as a live shoot lighting workshop with photographers Jen Raoult, Amber-Jayne Bain and Victoria Baldwin and a camera skills workshop supported by Sony. On Sunday, there’s an afternoon panel discussion to celebrate International Women’s Day, hosted by Victoria Baldwin, with Michele Richards and Vikki Cheng. The exhibition remains open on Monday so if you can’t make it along this weekend, sneak out of the office on Monday and take a peek at the excellent work of these talented - all too often invisible - photographers.
When: March 8-9, 8.30am-5pm; March 7 and 10, 8.30am-3pm.
Where: The Tuesday Club, 42 Airedale St, Auckland Central.
Price: Free. For more information and to register for workshops, visit womenswork.photography.
5) Pasifika Festival
The Pasifika Festival will be in full swing both Saturday and Sunday. Photo / Gareth Cooke, Subzero Images
The vibes are going to be high at Western Springs this weekend where the Pasifika Festival will be in full swing on both Saturday and Sunday. With a mix of traditional and contemporary performances that celebrate all the cultures of the Pacific, Pasifika is one of the most vibrant and entertaining festivals we have in Aotearoa. With a wide range of cultural groups, there are performances from The Royal Family Dance Crew, Samoan artist Vaniah Toloa, Fijian R&B group LeftOvas and more, as well as workshops like Mophead Storytelling with Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh and traditional wood carving with Jim Stretton. Filmmaker Miki Magasiva will be doing a Q&A about his new feature film Tinā, there’s a collaborative live mural art experience and, of course, it wouldn’t be the Pasifika Festival without loads of tasty treats from all over the Pacific. Entry is free and parking is limited so take public transport if you can.
Where: Western Springs Park, Great North Rd, Western Springs.
Price: Free.
6) The Auckland Boat Show
Get along and see the transformation of the central city into an enormous open-air boat showcase. Photo / Damian Alexander
New Zealand’s biggest on-water boat show hits Jellicoe Harbour this weekend, bringing with it the full gamut of waterborne vessels: newly-released yachts, motor yachts, multihulls, superyachts, amphibious vessels and trailer boats. The last major event of Moana Auckland, New Zealand’s Ocean Festival, the show is part of the seasonal celebration of the water that surrounds our beautiful city. Get along and see the transformation of the central city into an enormous open-air boat showcase, both on land and on the water. Dreams are free, these boats are not, but getting to see them this close up is - for boat-lovers and dreamers - just about enough.
When: March 8, 10am-6pm and March 9, 10am-5pm.
Where: Jellicoe Harbour and Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland Central.
If you haven’t enjoyed your share of free outdoor music concerts this summer, hop to Music in Parks this weekend. Album artwork / Steve Kilvey
Auckland Council’s Music in Parks series is on the home stretch so if you haven’t enjoyed your share of free outdoor music concerts this summer, hop to it this weekend. On Saturday, the concert’s in Albany and features Shallow Dive, Back to the Hillside and SOJØURN. Sunday’s concert is in Pakūranga and has a soul, pop and funk vibe with Rikki Morris, Automatic80s, Oni Kidman and Brother Sister. Pack a picnic, gather your whānau and friends and while away the weekend with some live local music and the natural beauty of Tāmaki Makaurau’s parks.
Shallow Dive, Back to the Hillside and SOJØURN
When: March 8, 1pm-4pm.
Where: Albany Lakes Civic Park, Civic Crescent, Albany.
Rikki Morris, Automatic80s, Oni Kidman and Brother Sister
If you’re in town, it’s definitely worth calling into the library and checking Other Worlds out.
In 2025, AI is getting eerily close to something from a sci-fi film, which is why the latest exhibition at Auckland’s Central Library - Other Worlds - couldn’t be more timely. The six-month-long exhibit features themed exhibition cases on things like fandom, robots and monsters, inner worlds and Mars, as well as fanzines, comics, pop-up books, vintage magazines and lots more. Throughout Other Worlds, the classic 1927 sci-fi film Metropolis will be playing on a loop and is available to stream at home on Beamafilm with your library card. There are curator talks in April and June, and later this month author Dr Gina Cole (Black Ice Matter; Na Viro) and writer, critic and producer Dan Taipua will host a talk on indigenous sci-fi and Aotearoa futurism. Plus, the Zest quartet is playing a live concert of music from sci-fi and fantasy films on April 17. If you’re in town, it’s definitely worth calling into the library and checking it out or, if you’re a bonafide sci-fi fan, making a special trip.
It’s never a bad time to go to Wānaka but the Festival of Colour is probably the best time. Photo / Benoit Z Leroux
If you have the means to escape Tāmaki Makaurau for a few days then the Wānaka Festival of Colour is the perfect excuse for it. Running for nine days at the end of March and into April, the festival has over 60 events that run the gamut from cabaret and dance to community events and art exhibitions. The festival kicks off - as every visit to Wānaka should - with an early morning plunge in the lake. Some of the festival highlights include Canadian Circus show ANIMAL; contemporary dance and live music show Subtle Dances; NZTrio; Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst’s two-hander, In Other Words, and concerts from The Veils, Delaney Davidson, The Eastern and more. It’s never a bad time to go to Wānaka but the Festival of Colour is probably the best time.
