Arts+Culture

Calls to bring back winter festival of old…

Remarkables Market Winter Season

By Jess Allen

The cold won’t stop Remarkables Markets, who are ramping up for their busy winter season with two mid-winter events happening during the school holidays on the 1st and 8th of July. They run a total of ﬁve markets across the season, with the Luma markets kicking it all off at the start of June. Each event brings a bit of magic and different vibes to the community.

In addition to the school holiday markets, they also hold a Mākete Matariki market and a Winter Pride one to round off their season. They’re located in the same spot along Hawthorne Drive, and start slightly later at 10am. Stallholders range from ceramic mugs to cosy knits, coffee, skincare, crafts, sweet treats and savoury delights.

“It’s quite different,” says Sherryn Smith of the markets. “Lots of visitors, lots of hot food and drink. We’ve got a bar operating with Crimson Badger, who have mulled wine and mulled Ginger Bear that people can have a wee sip on. There’s lots of soups and a whole variety of hot stuff to have.

“There’s still craft and there’s been a lot of vintage clothing, but we don’t have as many fruit and veggie stalls, just because there’s not much in the garden at the moment. We have got Nevis Gardens coming, who have some locally-grown produce. Lots of things you won’t see in the summer are coming out for these ones.”

You can stay warm and huddle around the ﬁre pits that will be going at each market, while you enjoy some warming kai. The winter fairy will also be ﬂoating about between 11 and 1. Expect to see different stalls as holders come as and when they can. For the Matariki markets, there will be a high school Kapa Haka and some special activities. For Winter Pride the police will stop by with their rainbow car and the Youth Booth will be their Spectrum Programme.

“They’re just a really nice community vibe and they’re different. People come down and they want to mingle, they want something free to do that’s a little bit different. Deﬁnitely dress warmly – wear

Getting Quizical in Glenorchy

your boots and your puff jackets. It is completely different to the Summer,” says Sherryn.

The Remarkables Market will run their winter markets throughout the season on Hawthorne Drive before returning to regular programming in late September. They have free parking, an ATM on site and dogs are welcome on leads. You can ﬁnd out more about what markets are happening, who the stallholders will be and when they’re taking place at facebook.com/RemarkablesMarket/

Glenorchy’s fundraising winter quiz series will wrap up next Wednesday, raising much-needed funds for the Early Childhood Education Centre that is going ahead in the area. The centre is something they’ve been fundraising for, for a couple of years now and is something the community desperately needs. While it will be the sixth week of the event, it is open to all and you don’t need to have participated in past events to get involved. The fun event has been running for several years now with last year’s efforts helping to create a reusable nappy bank for families in the community.

“It’s just a pretty friendly competition and more about the spirit of the community, having a good time at the pub, and having a couple of laughs,” says Jessica Burke of Glenorchy. “It’s a good excuse to get out of the house as the weather starts to turn and people start staying inside a little more, and just to get out into the community, support a local business and have a bit of fun.”

The group also have a GiveaLittle page to donate to the project itself. Jessica says “We’ve just built a big thermometer sign where you can see how much money has been raised so far, which is kind of exciting. It’s nice to see that visual representation of what we’ve been working towards because we have been doing a lot of smaller fundraisers, but they’re adding up in a really big way.”

Quizmaster Grimmer has been hosting quizzes for around 15 years – the quiz will be at the Glenorchy Hotel at 7pm sharp – Jess recommends getting there a little early to secure a table. You can donate at givealittle.co.nz/org/glenorchy-playgroup-incorporated