Blues, Brews & BBQ’s
Hawke’s Bay
January 2010
The festival features various stalls of brews, cider, wine and a selection of superb food. As part of your entry you are given a souvenir glass, which can be used to sample the range of boutique beers.

WETA Wine & Food Festival
Hawke’s Bay
January 2010
Soak up the ambience of the WETA (We Encourage the Arts) Wine and Food Festival in Central Hawke’s Bay, with the best of Hawke’s Bay’s wine, tantalising tastes & summer jazz.

 

Hawke’s Bay Harvest
First weekend of February
This exciting event is designed to please all wine and food lovers. This stunning weekend in the beautiful Hawke’s Bay allows Hawke’s Bay wineries to showcase their award winning wines to visitors, whilst being entertained in all sorts of ways!!

Church Road Jazz

Hawke’s Bay
February 2010
The Church Road Jazz concert is part of the annual Harvest Hawke’s Bay festival and always features a fabulous collection of musical entertainers each year in its open air environment.

Blues, Brews, and BBQs
Marlborough
First Saturday in February
Live bands play throughout the day giving continuous Blues, and Rhythm and Blues music. A variety of high quality food is available, BBQ treats include wild pork, local seafood, and ostrich. More than 20 breweries from throughout NZ attending, offering more than 70 beers to sample.

The Marlborough Wine Festival
Marlborough

Second Saturday in February
NZ’s premier food and wine experience. Sample the region’s finest wines and stunning local gourmet foods, while experiencing fantastic entertainment in a central location among the vines. The festival showcases around 300 wines from over 50 wineries.

Geon Brebner Print Art Deco Weekend
Hawke’s Bay
18-21 Feb 2010
17-20 Feb 2011
Napier’s Art Deco Weekend is held every year on the third week of February. Join the hectic programme and enjoy wining, dining, jazz, dancing, film, theatre, house tours, vintage cars, plane rides, and much, much more.

 

International Golden Shears Competition
Wairarapa
End of February
A unique kiwi experience, see the world’s best shearers and wool handlers in action.

CJ Pask Great Long Lunch
Hawke’s Bay
First Sunday of March
Dine on the region’s finest cuisine in a magical seaside setting, whilst sipping award-winning Hawke’s Bay wine from CJ Pask Winery. This unique alfresco dining experience accommodates 800 guests at a table nearly 300 metres long.

The New Zealand International Arts Festival
Wellington
February – March 2010
A biennial multi-arts festival held in the nation’s capital, Wellington. It is New Zealand’s premier and largest cultural event and exists to celebrate the best arts entertainment from around the world and within New Zealand. The first Festival was in 1986. Each Festival offers a bold artistic programme of the highest quality featuring opera, theatre, dance, music, outdoor productions, and literary and visual arts. The program is made up of companies and artists drawn from New Zealand and round the world who have been specifically selected by the Festival’s Artistic Director.

Sea, Sky, Bush Walk
Hawke’s Bay
First weekend of March
The Waipukurau Rotary Club’s popular 3-day guided walk across beautiful Central Hawke’s Bay farmland. Take in the awesome coastline, river lands and
natural bush.

Havelock Mussel Festival
Marlborough
Mid March
Come and join the celebration of the Greenshell Mussel industry and enjoy the tastes, sights and sounds available in Havelock – the home of the Greenshell Mussel.

Wairarapa Wines Harvest Festival
Wairarapa

Mid March
Fine local wines, food and music at a beautiful riverside location.

Martinborough Round the Vines
Marlborough

Mid March
Run or walk around Martinborough’s scenic vineyards.

Wairarapa International Balloon Fiesta
Wairarapa

Late March
Balloons from around the world take part in this extravaganza.

 

Classic Fighters

Marlborough
Easter weekend, odd numbered years

Aircraft are displayed as part of a theatrical spectacle, where battle scenes are re-enacted on the ground as well as in the air. Prepare for a spectacular weekend of fun.

Harvest Lunch Martinborough

Wairarapa

Early April

A five course gourmet meal served alfresco in Martinborough Square.

Forrest Estate Grape Ride
Marlborough

April 2010

The South Island’s largest cycling event, attracting serious cyclists and recreational riders alike for a 101km circuit through some of the most stunning scenery NZ has
to offer.

Gourmet Experience
Hawke’s Bay
Last weekend of April
Promoted by the Rotary Club of Taradale, this is a total ‘Gourmet Experience’ right in the heart of the province where a great deal of New Zealand’s fruit, meat, wine, oils, cheeses and produce is grown. Producers use it as a unique chance to present, showcase, promote, and sell their products direct to the public. And the public has a unique opportunity to taste, compare, buy and learn more about local products at
their leisure.

 

The Food Show
Wellington
May 2010

Delight in a vast range of specialty products from New Zealand and beyond. There’s great coffee, organic meats, boutique wine, cheeses, chutneys and cookware to consider. Venison and seafood delicacies will be there for you to savour too, along with confectionery and international delicacies. And these are just some of the delights that await. Celebrity chefs, food writers and industry experts will share their secrets, so we’re sure there will be something in these three-day extravaganzas that will tickle
your tastebuds.

 

Hawke’s Bay Winemakers
Charity Auction

Hawke's Bay

First Sunday in June
This is New Zealand’s oldest “Charity Wine Auction.” For the past 15 years it has proudly supported Cranford Hospice with more than 1 million dollars in proceeds from the donation of Hawke’s Bay very best wines. Each year the lots get bigger and better and people come from further afield to support this worthy cause. Giving, as practiced by the good Vintners, sommeliers, chefs, artist and supporters of this event, it is a celebration of themselves and the community. The wines are the very finest their makers can produce, the art, passion and knowledge infused into every drop.

Hawke’s Bay Matariki Festival

Hawke's Bay

June to July
Celebrate the Maori New Year, a seasonal occasion to mark the end of harvest and a time for reflection and remembrance.

Wellington Film Festival
Wellington

July/August
The Festival was inaugurated with seven films in 1972 to supplement the meagre options of Wellington film goers. In 2005 those options were not at all meagre, but the Festival continued to grow, showing over 130 programmes to audiences in excess of 71,000. The Festival has a long tradition of supporting New Zealand filmmakers. The main venue is the magnificent Embassy Theatre and the Festival has played a major role in the theatre’s rehabilitation and continuing refurbishment.

Bluewater Hotel Deco Decanted & Jazz Festival
Hawke’s Bay
17-19 July 2009
16-18 July 2010, 15-17 July 2011 A mid-winter celebration of the Art Deco Style in Napier New Zealand. A series of events that centre around dressing in the style of the 1920’s and 1930’s, jazz music, vintage cars, and a city-wide immersion in the style that made those days so flamboyant. It is a wonderful, friendly, and fun way to lose yourself for a couple of mid-winter days.

 

Wellington on a Plate

Wellington
24 September – 4 October 2009

A foodie fortnight where Wellington's finest restaurants offer scrumptious set menus at irrestible prices.

 

Montana World of WearableArt Awards Show
Wellington
23 September – 3 October 2009
Step into a world where art and the human form combine, where dance, music and lighting tell a story of the body as a canvas; where the lines of fashion and art blur and merge as one… A Montana WOW® Awards Show can be difficult to describe, hard to define and utterly impossible to forget. A montage of theatre, dance, colour, movement and art, simply put, the Montana WOW® Awards Shows are theatrical spectaculars.

Hawke's Bay Regional Signature Dish
Hawke's Bay
Month of September

Hawke's Bay Chefs use local food and beverages to create a Signature Dish featuring in restaurants around the region.

Cellar Dwellers
Wairarapa
Month of September
Taste new releases and aged wines, enjoy art, music and gourmet events around Martinborough’s vineyards throughout the month.

Central Hawke’s Bay – The Festival
Hawke's Bay

TBA Sept 2009
A festival of the arts - traditional art, garden art, digital art, art workshops and seminars, designer jewellery and much more.

 

Marlborough Sounds Water & Wilderness Festival

Marlborough Sounds

Oct 2009
Over three distinctly different weekends this spring festival has it all, showcasing the Marlborough Sounds, one of New Zealand’s favourite playgrounds. Pick from a different focus each weekend; discover Marlborough’s wine and food, classic Queen Charlotte Track adventures, good sound family fun and creative energy.

Kelt Capital Stakes
Hawke’s Bay
First Saturday of October
The flagship race of the Kelt Capital Spring Carnival is the $2 million Group 1 Kelt Capital Stakes, which is the richest Weight-For-Age event in New Zealand.

The Marlborough Wine Weekend
Marlborough
Late October odd numbered years Three days of new release tastings, tours and one-of-a
kind meals.

 

Toast Martinborough
Wairarapa
Third Sunday in November
Each year, the population of Martinborough increases tenfold as wine and food lovers from throughout the country fill the small Wairarapa town to celebrate the release of the new vintage and to enjoy New Zealand’s premium wine, food and music festival..

Hunters Garden Marlborough
early November 2009
Early November Workshops featuring national and international experts, fully escorted tours to unique, very special gardens on the grape-growing plains of Marlborough, along the Pacific Coast and within the Marlborough Sounds. Relaxing and fun social functions and the best Garden Fete in NZ.

 

Details coming soon