GOINGS ON ABOUT

EVENTS - MUSIC - ART THEATRE - AT THE GALLERIES

Free winter wellness sessions

The last event in the Winterdaze winter wellness series occurs this week at Happiness House. This week is a short mindfulness meditation followed by a munch and mingle, with food and tea provided. No previous experience in meditation required. Free to attend and all welcome!

When: Thursday, 10 August 10.00 am - 12.00 pm

Where: Happiness House on Park Street

Winter walking challenge

Stay active over winter with a series of self-paced, local walks that begins this week. Complete each one and be in to win a three-month gym and swim pass. The Winter Wander is all about maintaining, or creating, long lasting healthy habits to reap the physical and mental benefits of low impact exercise.

How to participate:

One walk will be released each week beginning Monday 7 August.

You get these straight to your inbox or follow on QLDC social media where the walks each week will be published. More info and registration at qldc.govt.nz/winterwander

Pasta Café

Pasta Cafe is back for the Friday evenings in August. Wakatipu Church and Queenstown Lakes District Council invite everyone to come and enjoy free home baking, music, full plates of pasta and good conversation.

Pasta Café is open to anyone in the region whether visitors, here for a few days on the snow, ski workers, families or local residents, and especially those sleeping in their cars and others coming from their mansions. Sometimes it’s a struggle to connect in this busy town for individuals or families or to feed themselves. This is a time to enjoy great food and great conversations.

Last year Pasta Café served over 600 free meals over the 4 nights we were open, this year they expect to surpass that figure.

Pasta Café is brought to you by Wakatipu Church with support from Queenstown Lakes District Council.

When: Fridays, August 11, 18 and 25 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Where: St Margaret’s Presbyterian Church, Ross Street, Frankton

Kids Fitness and Stunt workshop

Unleash your child’s potential at this kids fitness and stunt workshop.

If your child is bursting with energy and has a love for adventure, this could be the perfect blend of fitness, fun, and learning the basics of stunts.

This is an opportunity to get kids involved in an actionpacked adventure that they’ll never forget and may boost their confidence and fitness at the same time. Dedicated instructors are skilled in fostering a safe and supportive environment for kids to shine. To learn more stayft4life@gmail.com or book online at juggu4.wixsite.com/ stayfit4life

When: Saturday, August 12 at 8:40 am

Where: Shotover Primary School, 57 Stalker Road, Queenstown

India Independence Day

Come and celebrate India’s Independence Day with Bhartiya Samaj Queenstown Charitable Trust. Flag hoisting, cultural performances, a lot of food and fun! All welcome.

When: Sunday, 13 August, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Where: Lake Hayes Pavilion, 719 Lake Hayes-Arrow

Jct Hwy

Ranger Reads - Storytime

As part of Conservation Week local DOC rangers are at the library for a special Storytime to celebrate Conservation Week and ‘take action for nature’! Bring your pre-schoolers to enjoy a free Conservation Week-inspired storytelling session, read by one of the DOC rangers.

Bookings requested - contact Queenstown library to RSVP from the 31 July 2023.

When: Monday, August 14, 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Where: Queenstown Library, 10 Gorge Road, Queenstown

Hannah Kidd: Leave All Gates As You Find Them

Hannah Kidd’s life-sized sculptural animals simultaneously lovingly acknowledge and subvert the ideas and forms of Kiwiana. Using the most rustic of metal materials, thick steel wire and flattened corrugated iron, the artist creates works which glorify but also cast a dispassionate - or at times jaundiced - eye on the rural lifestyle.

When: Thursday, August 3 – Monday, August 21, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Where: Milford Galleries Queenstown, 9a Earl Street, Queenstown

Pigeon Island Native Regeneration with Neill Simpson

Neill is an eminent local Botanist, retired DOC Regional Botanist (Otago) & Chairman of Whakatipu Reforestation Trust.

Neill will deliver a fascinating presentation about how a group of Queenstown locals took action for nature and formed the Wakatipu Islands Trust to restore native vegetation on Pigeon & Pig Islands. Once heavily forested, the island’s timber was extensively cut down and used for boat building and mining props. Thankfully, small pockets of the original diverse forest remained, allowing for remarkable regeneration after the removal of sheep and goats in 1984. The island is now a sanctuary for endangered plants, and being free from animal pests, it serves as a refuge for local bird species including weka, which have been successfully reintroduced.

Explore this inspiring journey of Pigeon Island’s restoration and hear about the challenges and setbacks, the successes, and the lessons learnt have paved the way to preserve other district’s ecological heritage areas.

When: Friday 18 August 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Where: Arrowtown Community Centre, 12 Centennial Avenue, Arrowtown

Dolphin Friendly - That’ll do TeurQueenstown

Dolphin Friendly, are a hard-hitting, Ōtautahi rock band who will deliver five tracks of their unbridled, groove-laden rock with WON’T BE FOOLS EP- their unapologetic salute to 90’s grunge anthems blended with elements of psychedelic rock, hip-hop, and reggae. Tickets available online at Undertheradar.co.nz

When: Saturday, August 12 at 9:00 pm

Where: Yonder, 14 Church Street

Synthony in the Snow

Night skiing meets electrifying beats at Coronet Peak for a world-first experience – Synthony In The Snow!. Experience the thrill of night skiing before SYNTHONY begins at the base of Coronet Peak with 30 years of the biggest dance anthems, orchestra, vocalists, instrumentalists, DJs, and mesmerizing lighting and visuals.

Reimagined club classics from Eric Prydz to Avicii, Energy52, Fat Boy Slim, Darude, and more!

SYNTHONY No.1 promises to ignite your senses and leave you breathless.

When: Saturday, 19 August from 4:30 pm

Where: Coronet Peak

Queenstown Toastmasters Meeting

Music Workshop

Queenstown Toastmasters is growing so the next meeting is at the Sherwood which has a bigger space and no stairs. Everyone is invited to come along and find out what Toastmasters is about.

Start challenging your public speaking paradigm with impromptu speaking, elevator pitches and planned speeches all on the menu. As a guest learn from the Toastmasters team how they feel the fear of public speaking and do it anyway. Toastmasters are a friendly and new members or guests don’t need to have any training, you just show up and check it out. Bring a friend or come along solo.

When: Tuesday, August 15 and 29 from 6:00 pm

Where: Sherwood, 554 Frankton Rd

Dance

Jive & Thrive - Queenstown’s Modern Jive Weekend

This is a weekend of dance filled with wellbeing: Workshops, Performances & Parties!

Jive & Thrive returns to share the sense of joy & wellbeing from partner dancing. With instructors coming from across the country and Australia, Jive & Thrive appeals to a broad cross section of dancers – both in the Modern Jive community and for anyone new who wants to give it a whirl. During the weekend there are 2 Gold Coin Donation classes open to everyone: a yoga class & a Newcomers dance class.

Community Events that are open to everyone are Yoga on Saturday, 12 August, 9.45 am - 10.30 am and a Newcomers Class on Saturday, 12 August, 3.45 pm - 4.45 pm. More information is on the Jive and Thrive website.

When: Friday, August 11 from 6:30 pm to Sunday, August 13 at 3:30 pm

Where: Queenstown Memorial Centre, 1 Memorial Drive

If you would like your show, event, exhibition or meeting promoted in Goings On drop me a line at davidgibbs@qmg.co.nz with the details

Bay Dreams moves to Queenstown

By Paul Taylor

Organisers of Queenstown’s hugely-popular Mardi Gras are bringing their massive Bay Dreams festival to town.

Bay Dreams South will be held outdoors at Queenstown Event Centre on 5 January, 2024.

The festival is moving on from Nelson after a five-year stint, where it attracted a crowd between 12,000 and 20,000.

Festival director Toby Burrows says: “Nelson has been an incredible home for the festival but the vision has always been to tour the brand and with the securing of this amazing venue the timing is perfect.

“We know it’ll complement everything else the region has to offer over the holiday period.”

The festival skipped 2022 due to Covid restrictions but was held in Nelson in January this year, headlined by Grammy-nominated artist Diplo, along with Sticky Fingers, Hybrid Minds, and Denzel Curry.

But its owners, Trademark Group, decided to refresh the event this year with the move south, and chose Queenstown Event Centre after they successfully held dance music one-night festival Mardi Gras there in June, seeing its potential for a larger gig.

Bay Dreams 2023 in Nelson

Trademark Group, owned by Burrows, Mitch Lowe and Carwyn William, is one of New Zealand’s leading music festival and entertainment, putting on 200 events per year covering multiple music genres, including Soundsplash, Plane Sailing, Audiology Touring and Fabrik.

The line-up for Bay Deams South is yet to be announced.

The council-run Queenstown Events Centre, in Frankton, is home to the Sir John Davies oval, which boasts some of the best views from cricket ground in the world, looking out over The Remarkables.

Bay Dreams quickly rose to fame upon launching in Tauranga in 2016. By 2017, it was the largest festival in the country, bringing some of the largest acts in the world to New Zealand every summer.

It expanded to include a second date in Nelson, with the same acts playing both venues.

And Bay Dreams North is on the move too from its Baypark home. This year it will be held at Wharepai Domain.

Bay Dreams North Festival director Mitch Lowe says: “We are wanting to run a festival surrounded by trees, with beautiful natural shade and within walking distance of town with convenient transport options.

“Wharepai Domain is the natural fit for where we are going as a brand. It is aesthetically stunning, but at the same time functional, ticking all the boxes for an amazing event.

“In true Bay Dream’s style we are expanding the site beyond what any event has done before in the space and we cannot wait to see it come to life.”