Up to 5000 people are expected at Saturday's Waterfront Festival in Mangonui. Photo / file
Up to 5000 people are expected at Saturday's Waterfront Festival in Mangonui. Photo / file
A round-up of news snippets, events and oddities from the Bay of Islands and the Mid North
Festival a farewell to summer
Up to 5000 people are expected to pack Mangonui's waterfront this weekend for a festival aiming to farewell summer in style.
The Mangonui Waterfront Festival is a celebration of the best of Northland food, wine, entertainment and arts from noon to 6pm on Saturday. Waterfront Drive will be closed to traffic with cars replaced by people, more than 100 stalls and three stages.
Festival-goers will also be able to compete in, or just watch, tug o' war and tennis challenges, while paddleboarding and sailing races will be held on the water.
The heavens opened during last year's Mangonui Waterfront Festival but that didn't stop anyone having fun. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The main stage will feature kapa haka, line dancing and music from Penny Royal Tea, Friday Night Special, Soul Shine, Merv Pinny and Chemamari, while the chill zone will feature the likes of local ukulele band the Hangi Stones, September Moon and the Titanics. A third stage will be dedicated to youth performers.
Gates open at noon; entry costs $10 for adults and a gold coin for kids. No charge for under-5s.
The festival, which is organised by Doubtless Bay Promotions and Somersault Entertainment, is now in its sixth year. They'll be hoping for better weather than last year when a series of downpours prompted many revellers to flee – but those who stayed had a great time dancing in the rain.
Flying visit
If you're heading up to Mangonui's Waterfront Festival and you're a fan of old planes, you could take a detour to Kaitaia to check out a piece of World War II aviation history.
A 1944 Catalina flying boat, one of only a handful worldwide still flying, will be based at Kaitaia airport all day on Saturday with the public welcome to take a look around on board. If all goes to plan the aircraft will do a flyover of the festival as well.
The Catalina will land at Kerikeri on Sunday for refuelling at an as yet undetermined time.
Arts fest free events
Have you ever wanted to take control of the Earth?
You'll be able to do just that – well, kind of – thanks to one of the events at the upcoming Upsurge Bay of Islands Arts Festival.
An Interactive Earth is the name of a 2m diameter fibreglass sphere which will be suspended from the jacaranda tree next to Kemp House in Kerikeri and illuminated from all sides by digital projectors.
An Interactive Earth, which will be suspended from a tree next to Kemp House in Kerikeri, is one of several free attractions in the upcoming Upsurge Bay of Islands Arts Festival. Photo / supplied
An iPad control panel will give the audience control over parameters such as development, nature, control and chaos, and hence the fate of the Earth.
The planet will be in your hands from 7.30-10pm on April 6 and 7.
That's not the only free event during the April 2-7 Upsurge festival.
Christchurch actors/circus artists Lizzie Tollemache and David Ladderman, otherwise known as Rollicking Entertainment, will perform on Paihia's Village Green from noon-1.15pm on April 5; at Kings Theatre Creative in Kawakawa from 10-11.15am on April 6; and outside Kaikohe Library from noon-1.15pm on April 7.
Auckland mural artist Erika Pearce will be creating an outdoor work of art on Paihia's Bluff during the upcoming Upsurge Bay of Islands Arts Festival. Photo / supplied
Free musical performances, all in the Turner Centre Theatre Bar in Kerikeri, will include jazz/soul band September Moon (6.15-7.15pm, April 2); guitar/blues harp maestro Moondog Blues (5.45-6.45pm, April 3); 19-year-old Kāeo singer Te Rina Kahle (6.45-7.45pm, April 5); folk/pop duo Asch and Rogan (6.15-7.15pm, April 6); and husband-and-wife acoustic duo WiEkko (6.15-7.15pm, April 7).
Also during the festival Auckland mural artist Erika Pearce will be creating an environmentally-themed work of art on the Bluff wall on Paihia's waterfront from April 1-7.
A "show and tell" at Otiria Marae this weekend aims to pay tribute to the soldiers of the 28th Māori Battalion and inform whānau about plans for a book about the famous A Company.
People are encouraged to bring along photos and mementos to share in the hui and especially the workshop sessions. The event, Hora ka Taki, will start with a powhiri at 10am on Saturday, March 30.
Participants should bring a koha or some kai for lunch. Email tepuna_omahu@hotmail.com or phone 021 513 428 for more information.
The battalion was organised along tribal lines with the soldiers of A Company drawn largely from Northland.
Pumpkin winners
A giant pumpkin contest at Kerikeri Primary School has been won by the Mounter brothers with a 64.5kg monster.
Jack, 8, and Beau, 5, from Taheke, must have cracked the secret of growing super-sized vegetables because they also grew the second biggest pumpkin, weighing in at 60kg.
Brothers Jack, 8, and Beau Mounter, 5 with their prize-winning 64.5kg pumpkin. Photo / Peter de Graaf
All pupils at the school were given two seeds last September and challenged to grow the biggest pumpkin possible. The winners of the biggest, smallest, ugliest and best dressed pumpkin were judged at the school last Saturday during a Giant Festival which included giant soccer, giant bowls, a giant colouring competition and a car boot sale.
Shaylee Tucker, 6, with her "happy angry bird", winner of a best-dressed pumpkin competition at Kerikeri Primary School. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The Bloch-Jorgensen family placed second in a best-dressed pumpkin contest at Kerikeri Primary School. Photo / supplied
The best-dressed pumpkin contest was won by Shaylee Tucker, 6, with second place going to the Bloch-Jorgensen family. Pumpkins are on display in the school hall until Friday.
Piano competition update
Trustees of the Kerikeri International Piano Competition will outline the options they are considering for the future of the event at a public meeting from 5.30pm tomorrow, March 28.
The meeting will take place in St James' Church hall, just uphill from the Stone Store, in Kerikeri.
Feedback from the meeting will be taken into account when trustees make a final decision in April.
Late last year trust chairwoman Sylvia Burch signalled the future of the event, New Zealand's only international piano competition, was uncertain due to stagnant audience numbers and growing costs. It had also proven difficult to replace trustees as they retired.
The competition started in 1987 and attracts pianists and judges from around the world every two years.
Treat for Beethoven fans
Northland classical music fans have a chance to hear a world premiere in Kerikeri tomorrow when the Pettman Ensemble performs a new version of one of Beethoven's most-loved works.
Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony No 6 in F major, Opus 68, will be presented in a quartet version arranged by Mozart's foremost student, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, shortly after the symphony's premiere in 1808.
Newly edited after extensive research by New Zealand flautist Uwe Grodd, the work will be performed at the Turner Centre in Kerikeri at 7.30pm on March 28.
The Pettman Ensemble is a touring group of musicians from around Australasia performing works from the early classical period to music of today. Its core members are Michael Endres (piano), Uwe Grodd (flute), Curt Thompson (violin) and Edith Salzmann (cello).
Kerikeri Theatre Company is seeking "good, wholesome blokes with an excellent sense of humour and a cheeky streak" to audition for an upcoming production of Ladies' Night.
Would-be actors should be aged 18-55 and keen to star in a slightly naughty adult comedy. Body types required are fat, thin, fit, unfit, tall and short, so that covers pretty much everyone.
Auditions will take place from 3-5pm this Sunday, March 31, at the theatre company's base at 17B Sammaree Place, off Mill Lane in Kerikeri's industrial area.
Email kerikeritheatrecompany@gmail.com for audition material or more information.
Jazz club
This Friday's Turner Centre Jazz Club in Kerikeri features Maria O'Flaherty and the Ben Fernandez Quartet.
Genres covered by Auckland-based O'Flaherty span jazz, Latin, Celtic and French chanson; the quartet includes Ben Fernandez on piano, a regular performer at official functions hosted by the governor-general; Oli Holland, a senior lecturer at the Auckland University, on bass; and Ron Samsom, the head of jazz studies at Auckland University, on drums. The Theatre Bar doors open at 5pm; live music from 6pm. Entry $10 at the door.
The Bay of Islands Community Centre is setting up a support group for people looking after a family member or friend with dementia.
The new group is aimed at those who provide care in the home. Trained volunteers will be on hand to provide a fun and safe environment for those who have dementia, while their carers take some time out and share experiences with others.
The hope is that over time group members will be able to help each other cope with the challenges, big and small, presented by dementia.
The first session will be at 10am-noon this Friday, March 29. Email boicccarers@gmail.com for more information.
The Bay of Islands Community Centre is on level 1, 76 Marsden Rd, Paihia. The entry is in Paihia Lanes, just behind Kebabulous kebab shop.
By e-bike to Parliament
Members of the Carbon Neutral New Zealand Trust, a community group based in Kerikeri and on Waiheke Island, are riding their e-bikes to Wellington to call for progress on a Zero Carbon Bill.
The ride started at Waiheke Island on Saturday and is due to end at the steps of Parliament on April 16. Among those taking part in the Kaitiaki Guardian ride will be Terry and Ali Goodall of Kerikeri.
"We're trying to raise public awareness about the deepening climate crisis by encouraging every Kiwi to join in creating a solution in as many ways as possible," Terry Goodall said.
Participants also wanted to demonstrate that holidays, and adventures, could be had without the high carbon costs of air travel.
Go to carbonneutraltrust.org.nz for more information about the group and for an online carbon calculator to work out your household's carbon footprint, complete with tips on how to reduce it.
Upsurge Talks winners
The winners of free double tickets in last week's Upsurge Talks giveaway are Sue Richards of Kerikeri, Margaret Northey of Whangārei, Sian Steward of Kawakawa, Delwyn Simpson of Kerikeri and Fiona Ross of Whangārei Heads. Congratulations!
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