Shows
Have yourself…
A Very Merry Caburlesque! New Zealand’s longest-running burlesque-meets-cabaret variety show will deck The Fringe Bar with boughs of holly and sequins strung on feather boas on the 7th of December.
Naughty or nice?
Ms. Claus is single and ready to mingle (and jingle)! That’s why she’s signed up for PopRox’s Ms. Christmas Bachelorette, a Christmas-themed, improvised dating show at Hannah Playhouse on the 13th of December.
Jeepers, creepers!
Zoinks! Something is afoot down at Ivy Bar and Cabaret. The Mystery Inc gang are in the house, but they need your help to crack the case at Scooby Doo Drag Show on the 22nd of November.
Howdy, folks
Saddle up for a hullabaloo, Carterton! Friday Laughs is coming to Carterton Events Centre on the 15th of November with Wilson Dixon, Lesa MacLeod-Whiting, and local laugh legends in tow.
The heart and soul of Kiwi communication
We caught up with 7 Days host Jeremy Corbett about the live show, which hits Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre on the 8th of November amidst a nationwide “golf tour interrupted by performances”.
Spooky and spicy
Eat your heart out at Fired Up Halloween, a sultry Samhain soirée at The Fringe Bar on the 27th of October.
The strength of sisterhood
Sister Wives, based on an unsettling true story that happened right here in Wellington, will premiere at BATS Theatre from the 16th to the 19th of October.
Wicked, wonderful, weird
In a cautionary tale, giants, foxes, trolls, and the obnoxious king of the land collide. Step into The Kingdom of Bling from The Rocky Horror Picture Show creator Richard O’Brien at The Opera House on the 31st of October and Te Raukura ki Kāpiti: Performing Arts Centre on the 1st of November.
Music
Reach for the sun
We chat to bassist Peter Hamilton of Solar Daze about the six-piece neo-soul group’s new single Don’t Fall and upcoming release party at Meow on the 12th of December.
A release and a rallying cry
Wellington-based indie rock artist Bianca Bailey – known as Wiri Donna – has just unleashed her new EP In My Chambers and is taking to the road with her full band to celebrate it.
Dean & Britta On Fire
Dean Wareham takes us through his career highlights – from playing Glastonbury with Galaxie 500 to supporting The Velvet Underground with Luna to meeting David Bowie with Dean & Britta, who are coming to Welly this summer.
Ragers and romance
Highly Suspect will shred the stage at TSB Arena on the 29th of November. We were lucky enough to Zoom with frontman Johnny Stevens about the tour, which supports the rock band’s latest opus As Above, So Below (2024).
Cellular change
With her next album Enter Now Brightness set for release in February 2025, acclaimed Kiwi singer-songwriter Nadia Reid journeys back from her new home in the UK for a series of pre-summer shows.
Spheres of sun and soul
Grab your sunnies: New Zealand music icon Ladi6 is brilliant, blinding, and back with a brand-new single and the gig to show for it at San Fran on the 14th of November.
Beautifully, brutally honest
Jon Toogood is bringing his first-ever solo album The Last Of The Lonely Gods to life across Aotearoa on a mammoth spring tour that reaches Wellington’s Meow on the 26th of October.
Falling, floating
Boundary-pushing jazz composer and saxophonist Louisa Williamson loves how the genre morphs and grows in tune with culture and society. Catch her new work The Chasm Where We Fall Into Each Other at San Fran on the 17th of October as part of the Wellington Jazz Festival.
Movies
A smorgasbord of shorts
Be voracious, Wellington! Show Me Shorts Film Festival is coming to Wellington’s Light House Cuba cinema between the 16th and 23rd of October to serve up bite-sized morsels of movie magic.
Steadfast storytelling
A celebration of documentary storytelling, Doc Edge Film Festival takes audiences to the far reaches of the globe and into the heart of humanity. Explore every facet of life from Te Auaha and The Roxy Cinema from the 3rd to the 14th of July.
Furious filmmaking
Can you make a film in just two days? Come watch Wellington’s finalists of the Vista Foundation 48Hours film competition at the Embassy Theatre on the 5th of July.
Crème de la crème
The French Film Festival is the liaison of the saison – check out all kinds of flicks coming to cinemas across the Wellington Region from the 5th to the 26th of June.
Cinema Italiano
For one night only on the 22nd of May, Southern Cross Garden Bar Restaurant will transport cinephiles to the orange-hued land of la dolce vita at The Show Me Shorts Italian Short Film Night.
Wellington Silver Screeners: Bevin Linkhorn
In this edition of Wellington Silver Screeners, Alessia Belsito-Riera chats with Wellingtonian Bevin Linkhorn. Producer of Masters of the Muralverse and Extreme Cake Sports, Bevin has a diverse portfolio and an exciting year ahead.
Humanising the gaze
Argentinian film Labyrinth of the Moons snakes its way through themes of identity, motherhood, and trans childhood – catch a rare screening on the 6th of March during the Wellington Pride Festival.
Wellington Silver Screeners: Finn O’Connor
In this edition of Wellington Silver Screeners, Alessia Belsito-Riera chats with Finn O’Connor, a filmmaker who makes up one third of the production company Couch Kumara.
Art
Radical and revolutionary
When Toss Woolaston started painting portraits he ushered in the modernist era in New Zealand. Peruse a snapshot of his work at New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata’s Toss Woollaston: Figures from Life exhibition until the 9th of February.
Ode to solitude
Gavin Chai crafts scenes of contemporary life that capture an individual’s inner world. In his newest exhibition Ode to solitude at Page Galleries until the 30th of November, he showcases his new ceramic works.
What could be
Making her first foray into painting with colour, Swiss Kiwi artist Sarah Albisser presents a metallic dreamscape exhibition titled Waves of Reflection at Twentysix Gallery until the 16th of November.
Collection of creativity
Vincents Art Workshop is an art initiative by the community, for the community. Check out what Wellingtonians have been making in the public art space over the last year at the annual exhibition that runs until the 6th of November.
An Aotearoa legacy
In celebration of the life, work, and legacy of Dutch-born photographer Ans Westra, {Suite} Wellington is hosting a series of exhibitions and initiatives over the course of the final three months of 2024.
A Migrant’s Path
A celebration of cultural diversity, photographer Abhi Chinniah’s A Migrant’s Path showcases nuanced narratives from Aotearoa’s migrant communities at The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata until the 8th of December.
Playful and puzzling
Julian Hooper’s newest exhibition, which is the first of a series of installations from City Gallery Te Whare Toi that will take place within the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna o Mātauranga o Aotearoa, celebrates and interrogates the alphabet until the 16th of November.
To cultivate, care, and control
The invention of the Wardian Case meant settlers could bring plants from home to the far reaches of the globe. Exploring the impacts of this global plant movement, creatives Mark Smith and Felicity Jones present Case Studies III at Bowen Galleries until the 15th of September.
Events
Just awful
Brace yourself, dear reader / For the worst poem you’re ever gonna read-a / In celebration of the / Anti-Slam
Boom
Till death do us part
The most macabre matrimony is set to take place at Old St Paul’s this 28th of September. Witness the union of two of Wellington’s most lascivious lovers in Wedlock: A Drag Affair.
Building blocks
Imagination incarnate, LEGO® are the building blocks of creativity. Come play at the Wellington Brick Show in Lower Hutt’s Walter Nash Stadium from the 14th to the 15th of September.
Drawing the world
Illustrations leap off the page and come to life at the Picture Me Festival. Catch workshops, events, talks, and exhibitions across Wellington between the 11th and 19th of September.
The lioness of literature
We caught up with Katherine Mansfield House and Garden director Cherie Jacobson about Lioness of Literature: Talking Books with Emily Perkins, a fundraising event for the iconic Category 1 Historic Place and writer’s museum.
Poetic brush strokes
For Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day on the 24th of August, four of Wellington’s queer poets converge at Te Auaha to present some of their work and chat about their love of letters.
Murderous mayhem
On a dark and stormy night, something is afoot in the town of Ravenswood Bluff. Solve the mystery before the town devolves into madness with a round of the bluffing game Blood on the Clocktower on the 29th of June at Thistle Hall.
A musical rite of passage
Come and cheer on the young musicians shredding it at the Smokefreerockquest Wellington Regional Final on the 8th of June at Sacred Heart College from 7pm.
Personalities
Sunshine on a cloudy day
We round up another year as we prepare to close up shop for our summer break. Happy holidays to you and yours from all of us here at Regional News.
Living the dream
For the first time in the show’s history, RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under featured a Wellington-based drag queen. Olivia Dreams spills the tea about her experience.
Humanity’s maddest edges
Take a deep dive into the world of psychopaths and mental health labelling with best-selling author Jon Ronson on the 26th of November at The Opera House.
Synergy in motion
Just after he touched down in Wellington for the first time, Academy Award-winning filmmaker, director, and animator Mark Andrews chatted with Alessia about his career, his passion, and the project that brings him to Pōneke.
Full, bustling, alive
We chat with theatre producer Eleanor Strathern of A Mulled Whine about her career so far and new role as the general manager of Hannah Playhouse.
Wellington Silver Screeners: Lukas Niklaus and Benjamin Mulot of Floating Rock
Wellington animation studio Floating Rock is working on their upcoming show and videogame Kyōryū. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where dinosaurs reign, Alessia got the inside scoop from co-founder and CEO Lukas Niklaus and senior animator Benjamin Mulot.
Working towards a question
Filmmaker and actor Paolo Rotondo straddles two worlds: Aotearoa and Italia. He combines his cultures by leading the Italian Film Festival across New Zealand each year, which comes to Wellington in November. We chatted with him about culture, film, and Italianità.
The magic of the moment
World-renowned illusionist Cosentino is coming to town to defy gravity and death in a staggering stage spectacular this spring. Decennium: The Greatest Hits Tour hits St James Theatre on the 29th and 30th of November.