Winterfest @ Auckland Botanic Gardens & Te Atatu Community Centre

Spread out over two weekends and two locations, guests will be lured in by the appetising aroma of food trucks. There’ll also be beverage offerings, mesmerising light installations, a silent disco and Polynesian fire dancing.

Winterfest #1: Friday July 15,  Saturday July 16, 4:30-8:30pm @ Auckland Botanical Gardens, 102 Hill Road, The Gardens, Auckland 2105

Winterfest #2:  Friday July 22, Saturday July 23, 4:30-8:30pm @  Te Atatu Community Centre, Jack Pringle Park, Pringle Rd, Te Atatu.

Takapuna Winter Lights

When: July 28 - 31, 5 - 10pm

Where:  All around Hurstmere Road & Hurstmere Green

Lighting up the night across four evenings, Takapuna Winter Lights is a sparkling sensory experience and an annual highlight of the Takapuna cultural calendar. Everyone is welcome, young and old, with the lights switched on between 5 and 10pm, so dress warmly and head to Hurstmere Road to marvel at the illuminations. But the fun doesn’t need to end there - why not stop for a bite at your favourite eatery, or a simple tipple with friends.

Auckland Fried Chicken Festival

Where: Shed 10, Queens Wharf.
When: Saturday, July 30 12-4pm 5-9pm
Price: $15, with limited door sales

Head down to Shed 10 to discover a dozen fine-feathered food vendors all doing what they do best, and that’s serving mouth-watering meals, with a focus on fried chicken.  Explore each chef’s take on chook, inspired by their heritage whether they’re from Jamaica, Asia or the Americas.

With an excellent array of beverages too - including Pals, Karma drinks and Behemoth - all you have to do is figure out what to order, then enjoy the food, the drinks, the company and to top it all off, the live music.

Each food truck will have at least one dish that costs just $10 which means more cluck for your buck.  

Silent Disco City Walk

When: Fridays, July 15 & 29,  6.30pm - 8.30pm.
Starting point: Victoria Park
Tickets: $25, limit of 40 people per spacewalk

Space cadets and earthlings alike are invited to don headphones and dance together as one while listening to a carefully curated soundtrack.

This year the theme is space, with this one-hour walking adventure starting at Victoria Park Market, then heading towards The City Works Depot, SkyCity, Federal Street, and Te Ara I Whiti - The Lightpath before traversing Karangahape Road where the dancing astronauts will return to Earth’s atmosphere.

Hosted by an outer space-mad scientist, guests are encouraged to wave their glow sticks and who knows, perhaps you'll be seen from space!

Morning People

When: Saturday, July 23, 7am - 9am
Where: Auckland Town Hall
Tickets: $28.60 - $33.60 

To celebrate six joyful years, the people who get you moving of a morning are taking over the Auckland Town Hall with some of the finest DJ talent in existence. Expect super-sized helpings of house and techno and, because it’s a birthday party, they’re switching things up to have their fans partying on a Saturday – yes you heard right SATURDAY!!  - from 7am to 9am. 

Expect the usual complimentary Altezano Brothers coffee, All Good bananas, and the Amazonian plant-power of Club Mate. Don’t forget to dress fancy and remember that it’s alcohol-free!

TAMI NEILSON'S SONGBOOK

When:  Saturday, July 30, 8- 10.30pm
Where: Aotea Centre
Tickets: $24 - $75

Canadian singer Tami Neilson is without a doubt one of New Zealand’s best loved musical artists. Embraced by her new homeland, Tami has won so many awards she’s probably lost count of them, and wherever she plays, tickets sell out. This concert will surely be no exception, with Tami’s rich and beautiful voice joining the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Tami’s own Hot Rockin' Band of Rhythm.

With a few million-streaming singles under her belt, Tami will also take this opportunity  to treat audiences to premiere performances of some brand-new songs. Featuring fabulous acoustics, stunning orchestral arrangements and a full symphony orchestra, not to mention terrific Tami, this will be a night to remember.

Bootleg Bounty aboard heritage vessel Ted Ashby

Where: New Zealand Maritime Museum.
When: Saturday July 23, 11:30am & 2pm (each sailing 90 minutes)
Tickets: $50 per person (Numbers limited to 42 per sailing)
 

Run away to sea, at least for 90 minutes, on the beloved replica heritage vessel Ted Ashby. Join the pirates aboard this ketch-rigged deck scow, and test your cunning to see if you have what it takes to join the crew. So don your finest pirate garb, polish your cutlass, and hoist the Jolly Roger before immersing yourself in this oarsome adventure.

Be warned, the voyage will include pirate games, a cup of hot grog, the singing of sea shanties and some seriously salty conversation with a trio of reprobate, yet highly-skilled, sailors.

Takurua -Nafanua War Goddess

Dates: July 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23
Time: 7pm - 9:15pm.
Where: Hunua Room, Aotea Centre
 

Takurua -Nafanua War Goddess is an evening of fine dining, theatre and dance that merges culture and hospitality. Relish a sumptuous five-course banquet designed by head chef Wallace Mua Frost, while contemporary Pasifika dance theatre is woven between the courses.

This event follows hot on the heels of last year's Takurua Battle of the Brothers. Drawing inspiration from Māori hākari and Pacific Island feasting rituals, Takurua welcomes guests to join a celebration of thrilling dance theatre, spectacular costumes and authentic cultural stories, as well as comedy from the Samoan fale aitu tradition. 

Opera in Concert: IL TROVATORE with the APO 

When: Saturday, July 16, 7:30pm-10pm.
Where: Auckland Town Hall
Price: $35 - $133
 

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra presents Verdi’s Il Trovatore at Auckland Town Hall, with the New Zealand Opera Chorus. Promising an evening of inspiring operatic and orchestral music, with all the high soap drama you expect from a Verdi opera. As for the cast, it’s as if they were plucked from the heavens, there are so many stars on stage, all of them regulars at the top European opera houses, while Giordano Bellincampi is the ideal conductor for an opera of such remarkable dramatic power.