Kiwi band Hands Off will headline the main stage at this year's Kerikeri Street Party. Photo / Supplied
More than 5000 revellers are expected to be dancing in the street during the Kerikeri Street Party next week.
The annual event has Kerikeri Rd closed off from 5pm-9pm on November 23 for more than 30 food and beverage stalls and a jam-packed entertainment schedule.
New Zealand's premiere covers band, Hands Off will headline the main stage from 6pm.
READ MORE:
• Photos: Kerikeri Street Party 2018
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• Kohukohu's 105-year-old hall gets a facelift, Horeke Hall repairs finished soon
• Recycling station opens for Kerikeri-Waipapa area after a decade without
The band have a massive repertoire and will be including an Anzac set with all the party favourites from Dave Dobbyn and Crowded House, to The Angels and Cold Chisel.
The Jazz & Blues stage is located centrally this year and features popular Northland acts Jam Sandwich and Thelonius Punk. DJ JXO will be firing up the eastern end of the street.
Revellers can also expect local drum and dance acts, roving circus performers Circus Kumarani, Kerikeri's Ukulele Club and some surprise guest appearances.
More FM's Toast will MC the evening and will also have some fun giveaways and spot prizes.
Organisers say they have just a couple of spaces left for food stalls and there are only 10 VIP tables left.
Situated in the heart of the action, VIP tables are a great way to treat staff or clients and you can add a delicious platter by local caterer Neat Eats.
This year the Kerikeri Street Party is supporting Rotary Waipapa and Alzheimer's Northland.
Gates open at 5pm and entry is free.
Visit kerikeristreetparty.co.nz for details or check out Facebook @KerikeriStreetParty
New Zealand chef, gourmet traveller and author Peta Mathias will share stories from her latest book Eat Your Heart Out at the Turner Centre on December 7.
The event celebrates the connection between love and food and starts at 5.30pm.
"The connection between love and food is unavoidable," Mathias said.
"One day in the 1980s in my restaurant in Paris I made a flourless almond and chocolate torte. This became the most popular dessert I ever served in my restaurant, and I almost married someone after having eaten it."
Mathias is also a broadcaster who conducts gastronomic overseas tours to France, Morocco, Spain, Vietnam, Italy and India.
For 12 years she presented travel and food television shows Taste New Zealand, Taste Takes Off and A Taste of Home.
Her many books are about food, travel, life, men, women, love and explaining how egg whites can transform your life.
In 2012 Mathias was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her work as an author and TV presenter.
The founders of new independent book publisher Pavlova Press are seeking submissions with a Kerikeri connection for their latest project.
Kathy Derrick and Jac Jenkins established Pavlova Press, based in Kerikeri, and recently produced Scoria: Short prose from the cinder cone, a collection of standalone pieces.
Next in line is a collection of 200 poems and pieces of short prose from writers with a Kerikeri connection to be launched on Tūhono Kerikeri Festival Day on March 21.
Pavlova Press are now asking for submissions from writers for this project.
Derrick and Jenkins both graduated with master's degrees in creative writing and their work has appeared in various periodicals, anthologies, blogs and websites.
The new venture is a collaboration of their passion and talent, which they wish to use to produce fresh, high quality work, particularly supporting writers who haven't yet had the opportunity to be heard.
Submissions close December 31.
For submission guidelines visit pavlovapress.co.nz or email admin@pavlovapress.co.nz
History buffs have the chance to view heritage homes on a Kohukohu house tour on December 8.
The Kohukohu Community Library is offering a guided walking tour around the historic village visiting heritage homes to meet the current owners and hear stories about the families who lived there during the mill days.
Following the house tour there is a viewing of the exhibition of Charles Dawes' photographs from this era and a Victorian afternoon tea at Village Arts Gallery.
Tickets are $30 and include a Kohukohu history book. All proceeds go to the Kohukohu Library.
To book email kohukohulibrary@gmail.com or phone 09 4055344.
The new Kerikeri Re:Sort Resource Recovery Park is ramping up efforts to improve sustainability in the Far North, with help from the Glass Packaging Forum.
The Northland Waste recovery park which opened at the end of 2018 has already proven so popular it had to increase its container glass recycling storage.
Northland Waste Manager Andrew Sclater said the volume of glass being recycled increased significantly in the months following the opening, prompting the need to upgrade.
A grant of just over $23,000 from the forum has enabled the company to replace the portable skip bins initially used for glass storage, with dedicated concrete bunkers.
This has increased storage from approximately 5.5 tonnes to 49 tonnes, meaning not only can more glass can be recycled, but transport is more efficient too, Sclater said.
"Re:Sort was designed around recovery and diverting waste away from landfill," he said.
"It also means residents of the district's largest town no longer need to compete the 50-minute round trip to the rural facility in Whitehills."
Recycled glass in New Zealand is sent to the country's only glass bottle and jar manufacturer O-I NZ in Auckland.
Glass Packaging Forum scheme manager Dominic Salmon said funds for grants allocated by the forum come from levies paid by around 100 voluntary member brands. To date the forum has funded more than $3.4 million in grants.
Kerikeri's Vert Jam skateboarding competition returns to the town's skateboard ramp from noon this Saturday.
The event, founded last year by former professional skateboarder Dave Crabb, will double this year as the first round of the nationwide NZ Vert Series.
Contestant divisions include girls, under-16, open and masters for over-40s. Vert (short for vertical) skateboarding is the act of riding a skateboard on a ramp or other incline to perform skateboarding tricks. The riders spend as much time in the air as they do on the ramp, making it a great spectator sport.
• If you have an upcoming event or a snippet of news you'd like to share, email jenny.ling@nzme.co.nz along with your contact details.
The latest news bites from around the region.