What's happening in Whanganui over Queen's Birthday weekend

Vicki Fanning's glass art is on display at Sarjeant on the Quay. Photo / Michael McKeagg

A variety of events are on offer in Whanganui over Queen's Birthday weekend.

Kicking the weekend off is a performance by musicians Elizabeth de Vegt and Hamish Jellyman at Space Studio and Gallery on Friday night.

The pair will play a mixture of covers, including songs by the Beatles, Louis Armstrong and Joni Mitchell, as well as three originals each.

The show begins at 6.30pm.

Blues musician Grant Haua takes the stage at the Whanganui Musicians Club on Saturday at 8pm.

A five-strong team of Whanganui runners will undertake the 84km Star to Sea Ultramarathon for at least half of Saturday.

Their effort is part of a fundraising campaign for Starship Hospital and the public is encouraged to cheer them on along the way.

The team will set out from Pipiriki at 5am and is expected to reach the Bearing sculpture by the Whanganui River between 2pm and 3.30pm.

All going to plan, they will cross the finish line at the North Mole around 5pm.

For those after a slightly shorter course, the weekly 5km Whanganui parkrun begins at 8am on Saturday, starting from the grass area beside the Mountains to Sea Cycleway opposite 282 Taupō Quay.

The 2022 New Zealand Enduro Championships kick off through farmland and pine forest on Makirikiri Valley Rd at Upokongaro on Saturday.

The event will be signposted from State Highway 4.

Whanganui dirt bike rider Seth Reardon, the New Zealand 2019 National Enduro Champion and the 2020 and 2021 National Enduro 250 Champion, is in the field.

Reardon's late father, Brian Reardon, won the event when it was last staged at Upokongaro in 1985.

An annual exhibition by members of the Whanganui Potters Society will be open to the public over the weekend at the Community Arts Centre on Taupō Quay.

Most pieces are for sale.

Across the road at Sarjeant on the Quay, glass artist Vicki Fanning's Upon a Moment exhibition is on display.

The works were inspired by designs created by The Wanganui Glass Company, which was the main producer and distributor of etched and sandblasted doors in New Zealand.

The Wanganui Jockey Club's Queen's Birthday meeting on Saturday has been transferred from Whanganui to the Waverley Racecourse.

"Due to safety concerns with the track and the [weather] forecast, we decided it would be unsafe to race here at Whanganui and luckily were able to transfer to Waverley," operations manager Bret Field said.

The first race starts at 11.50am with the last at 3.51pm.

Aside from some rain on Saturday morning, it will be mostly dry until Monday, with clouds and periods of rain set to return for the public holiday.