All artists take risks. Elliot Stewart once faced an oncoming train as he painted the inside of a tunnel.

I have always thought of Mere Boynton as one of Wellington's musical taonga; she trained as a singer at Victoria University and, in the 1990s, was a spellbinding performer at one of the city's....

Cricket fever has struck so follow the trail to the fan zone, writes Sarah Ell.

"I don't make lollies!" Lemi Ponifasio is talking about the often-extreme reaction to his latest production, I AM, from which many audience members walked out when it was staged at last year's Edinburgh International Festival.

In painting, even at its most abstract, a strong horizontal across a work is inescapably read as a horizon.

Deutsche Grammophon must be very happy to have Grigory Sokolov in its stable. The Russian came to the notice of the world in 1966, winning the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition at only 16.

A spectacular view and fascinating history enraptures Sarah Ell and family.

On Thursday, Kathryn Stott caps off her first visit to our coundty playing Shostakovich with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

Catherine Smith discovers a vibrant dining scene in the gastronomic capital of Northland.

A Waiheke horse trek involves a sun-drenched lunch, wine, with a paddle in the saddle on the ride home, writes Donna McIntyre.

Laughter bounces off the walls at this trampoline park, writes Debbie Griffiths.

Slowly but surely, Auckland is becoming a city for cyclists, finds Elisabeth Easther.

Rebuilt in the 1930s, Art Deco Napier seduces Michelle Coursey.

Still looking for some fun to fill your summer days? We list five of the best summer festivals to get to around the country.

Donna McIntyre and family visit New Zealand's number one off-road cycling destination.

Art causes lurching emotions. "From hateful boredom to supreme enlightenment," as John Radford puts it, raving about regular avant-garde concert series, Vitamin S.

A March concert by Tafelmusik, a Canadian baroque orchestra, promises to be a highlight of this year's Auckland Arts Festival.

With the anniversary last year of the beginning of World War I and this year's remembrance of the Gallipoli landings there has been much comment on war and its consequences.