Things to do this Easter weekend: Nine fun activities in Auckland
28 Mar, 2024 05:00 PM8 mins to read
Howick Historical Village is hosting a massive Easter egg hunt this weekend. Photo / Eva Li
It’s a long weekend around the country, and for Aucklanders (or those visiting) there are plenty of things on around the city.
Celebrate Easter with a bunch of exciting activities in Auckland. From Easter egg hunts at iconic landmarks to unique experiences and eco-friendly festivities, there’s something for everyone.
Auckland Museum is hosting an Easter egg huntTāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum is one of the city’s premier attractions for a reason: it’s not just stacked with important and thought-provoking experiences, but it knows what parents need - a hook to get their kids excited about an afternoon out of the house. They’ve done it again this Easter, with an egg hunt that will provide your children with a series of rhyming clues which will hopefully lead them to the series of beautifully decorated eggs hidden around the museum. If they find all the eggs and write down the special letter each contains, they’ll go into a draw to win a chocolate hamper which the museum admirably admits will “alarm parents”.
Details: March 29-April 2. Collect the trail guide from Te Ao Mārama South Atrium, Auckland Museum, Auckland Domain, Parnell, Auckland. Free entry for Auckland residents.
There’s an Easter extravaganza on at Howick Historical VillageHowick Historical Village will be packed with good old-fashioned Easter merriment on Sunday. A massive Easter egg hunt starts at 10am, with 600 tokens hidden throughout the gardens, each of which can be exchanged for Easter chocolates (maximum of three per person). The Easter Bunny will be in attendance as well, so you and your little ones can get photos with the world’s most beloved delivery rabbit, but perhaps the highlight of the day will be the live show by Act One Productions, which promises to reveal how aspiring bunnies are trained by the Easter Fairy. There will also be crafts, face-painting, outdoor games and lollipop-making with confectioner Stephen Parsons at the 1850s Sweet Shop. After getting your fill of Easter fun, don’t forget to explore the rest of the village’s wonders: You can make home-made butter, see the coal range fired up in Puhi Nui, explore the heritage gardens and pick up sweet and savoury food and drinks from the likes of Mister Gelato, The Dog Father and the Homestead Cafe.
Details: March 31, 10am-3pm. Howick Historical Village, 75 Bells Road, Pakuranga. Tickets: Adults $20, children $12; infants aged 1 year or less enter for free. Limited door sales are available; booking via eventfinda.co.nz is highly recommended.
Matanaka Country Park Easter MarketWho doesn’t love a little weekend morning jaunt to Matakana for some of the village’s famed produce and provisions and general vibe? This weekend, Matakana has more to offer than its delightful Saturday market. On Sunday, Matakana Country Park - one of the area’s hidden gems - is hosting its own Easter market, and the Easter Bunny himself will be in attendance. He’s bringing with him a host of other attractions, including face-painting, pony rides, farm animals, miniature train rides, food trucks, bouncy castles, boutique craft stalls, live music and more. It’s oodles of fun for the whole whānau, and while we can’t promise you won’t blow your budget buying irresistible Matakana-based fare, entry to the market itself is free.
Details: March 31, 8.30am-2pm. Matakana Country Park, 33 Omaha Flats Road Matakana. Entry is free.
The most intriguing event of the Easter weekend is without doubt Still Lives: Auckland, a free event that will take place at the Auckland Town Hall on Sunday afternoon. Artists Luke George (Naarm/Melbourne) and Daniel Kok (Singapore/Berlin) will use ropes to tie together the bodies of eight female-identifying rugby players, recreating half of a scrum. It’s an art piece in which the creation of the piece is the piece. Members of the public are invited to arrive when they want, sit where they want and move around as much as they want. Part of the installation is a collaboration with lighting and sound designers, who will together create “a visual and sonic atmosphere that references the game and stadium itself”. Among the eight players to be tied together for the piece are former Black Fern and Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit Rochelle Martin, freelance sports journalist and podcast host Alice Soper, Auckland Storm player Kelvery Longopoa and Black Fern Vita Dryden.
Details: Saturday, March 30, 5.30pm-8pm, Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall, Queen St, Auckland CBD. Entry is free.
Distract the kids from the endless stream of chocolate this weekend by taking them to the flicks to see Aotearoa’s newest local movie. Living legend and one of New Zealand’s finest actors, Rachel House, makes her directorial debut with the moving and heartfelt drama The Mountain, which debuted in cinemas across the motu on Thursday. It’s a story of healing based around the fearless Sam, a girl raised outside her Māori culture, who is trying to connect with her mountain, Taranaki Maunga, in the hope it can help heal her cancer. Along the way, she meets a bunch of misfits and new kids in town. Their journey is not just about healing and adventure but about the magic of friendship.
Details: Screening now, in cinemas nationwide.
If you haven’t been to the Easter Show in a while, it’s exactly as you remember it: loaded with fun, deliciously greasy grub and a full stack of carnival rides, from Ferris wheels to teacups to spin you ‘round and upside-down machines. Plus, there’s a bevy of food trucks, wild exhibitions from strongmen, medieval battles, big-air BMX displays, axe-throwing, cute animals to pet and all sorts of wonderful, wild and wacky wares to sample and/or buy at the market. There’s face-painting, New Zealand’s biggest bouncy castle and (of course) a giant Easter egg hunt. Pro tip: You might want to make sure the kids have finished on the bouncy castle before letting them loose on the chocolate.
Details: March 28-April 1, day session 10am-6pm, evening session 6-10pm. Auckland Showgrounds, 217 Green Lane West, Epsom, Auckland. Day session $10, evening session $6, under-5s and senior citizens enter for free; tickets for rides are purchased separately on-site. See eastershow.co.nz for tickets.
This is your unofficial reminder that we are smack-dab in the middle of Ecofest, and it’s an amazing way to redirect your guilt around all the empty chocolate wrappers filling your rubbish bin. Over Easter weekend, there are loads of events taking place, including composting workshops, seed swaps, a car boot market, clean-up, regeneration and restoration workshops, art exhibitions and more. More likely than not, there’s something happening in your area this weekend or over the remaining two weeks of the festival, so spend some time scrolling through their website this weekend and see how you can become a friend to our environment and a responsible ancestor to future generations.
Details: March 15-April 14. Various locations around Tāmaki Makaurau. Visit ecofest.org.nz for the full schedule of events and more information.
Saturday is your last chance to attend one of Auckland Council’s free outdoor music concerts for the year. The final in the series is taking place at Victoria Park in the city and is a collaboration with Spectrum Care initiative Gig Buddies. Featuring performances by Fathe & The Sweetos, Mutes (from Mars), Easy Beats, Salt Shakers, The View Rd Cats and Gig Buddies DJs, the event will include a quiet zone for anyone who struggles with the noise and sensory stimulation of a live event, as well as market stalls. It promises to be a lively afternoon of music influenced by sounds and musical traditions from all over the globe. It’s time to officially say goodbye to summer and free outdoor concerts until our little part of the world tilts towards the sun once again at the end of the year. Bring your whānau, friends and a picnic blanket and make the most of your Easter Saturday.
Details: March 30, 1pm-5pm. Victoria Park, Victoria St West, Auckland CBD. Entry is free.
Classical music enthusiasts, get your April orchestral fill at the NZSO’s Mahler 5 programme, which features an exciting international premiere performance of Losing Earth by Emmy-winning composer Adam Schoenberg. It will be the first time the piece, inspired by the climate catastrophe, will be performed outside of the United States. Schoenberg will be attending the concerts in Wellington and Auckland, and Jacob Nissly - the principal percussionist for the San Francisco Symphony, which performed the concerto at its premiere in 2019 - will perform with the NZSO. The piece will be played along with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, led by principal conductor Gemma New, and New Zealand composer Salina Fisher’s Kintsugi. There’s just one performance in each city, so don’t dilly-dally - tickets are limited.
Details: April 6, 7.30pm. Town Hall, Queen St, Auckland CBD. Tickets start at $30 from ticketmaster.co.nz.
