What's on this autumn

Works from artists who have become household names including Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gough will be on display at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

A Century of Modern Art will be showcased exclusively in Tāmaki Makaurau from June 7 and will feature a collection of 57 iconic works by 53 artists, all of them being exceptional examples by pioneering artists of the American and European avant-garde.

Organised by the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, the exhibition traces the birth of modern painting, beginning with the Impressionists of the 1860s, and follows the evolution through key movements such as Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, Cubism, Surrealism and more. 

Featherston in Wairapara is a book town: a small town or village close to a major city, in which bookshops are concentrated. The residents set up events around books: selling them, writing, reading, illustrating, printing, making and publishing them. One of the most famous is Hay-on-Wye in Wales, but there are several around the world. The International Organisation of Booktowns binds these places together.

Featherston, which boasts eight permanent bookshops and is an hour north of Wellington, became a full member in 2018.  Each year, the town runs a phenomenally popular book festival, and this year is its 10^th.

From May 9-11, the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival (Karukatea translates as ‘the clear and observant eye’) will be packed with events, workshops, book launches, author talks and social gatherings for book lovers of every description. Some events are ticketed, some are free. 

An exclusive Wellington exhibition offers a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes magic that goes into creating some of the world’s most beloved animations.

Every Disney character first began as a drawing. From original sketches of timeless characters to modern computer-generated renders, visitors to the Wellington show will discover how animations are brought to life at Disney: The Magic of Animation.

Curated by the team at the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, the exhibition at Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre is on now until July 2025.

Art Exhibitions & Conservation Manager at Walt Disney Animation Research Library Kristen McCormick and her team selected more than 600 artworks from a collection of over 65 million.

The exhibition features art from classic stories and films spanning 100 years of Walt Disney Animation Studios, including Mickey Mouse from the 1920s and 1940s through to modern favourites like Frozen (2013). 

Kākāpō adoptions are a special way to support the protection of this critically endangered bird.

There are just 244 kākāpō alive today. The Department of Conservation is calling for adoptions of these unique New Zealand birds in an effort to keep them thriving.

Adopt a kākāpō for yourself or as a gift and will be able to choose your level of support – bronze, silver or gold – as well as the feathered friend you want to adopt.

Will it be Bluster-Murphy who was attacked in his nest as a chick by a male kākāpō and lost two toes? Perhaps Nora the Marvellous Matriarch who at 44 years, is the oldest known kākāpō alive. Or Rangi, a stealthy bird with exceptional evasive skills who hid for 21 years.

Kākāpō adopters will receive an emailed certificate, and you’ll be kept in the loop about your adopted bird and receive information from the Kākāpō Recovery Programme.

All adoptions are valid for 12 months and are purely symbolic: you don’t own the bird, but you will play a vital role in preserving the population of our native green parrot for generations to come.

A new tourism offering is taking ferry excursions on Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour to new heights – literally.

The world’s first state-of-the-art electric hydrofoiling ferry, Kermadec, joined the Fullers360 fleet in Auckland earlier this year and is now a regular feature on the harbour.

The craft glides above the waves at an impressive 25 knots, taking tourists on trips to enjoy views of the city skyline, Auckland Harbour Bridge and the Hauraki Gulf. On-board commentary highlights the cutting-edge hydrofoiling technology, as well as detailing the surrounding marine environment.

The six-seater, eco-friendly vessel runs entirely on electricity, making for a smooth and emissions-free ride. Another benefit is the absence of boat wake, removing the environmental impact of disturbance to shorelines.

The 40-minute journey departs from Viaduct Harbour Marina.

The track to New Zealand’s largest tree, Tāne Mahuta, has reopened after closing during last spring for improvements.

Waipoua Forest near Dargaville is a 30km stretch along SH12, rich in mature kauri and home to New Zealand’s most famous tree.

A short track leads to the 51-metre-high, 430 tonne, 2,000 year-old giant, as well as Tāne Mahuta’s almost-as-big neighbour, Te Matua Ngahere. Improved boardwalks and viewing platforms have been installed to minimise kauri dieback, the disease decimating kauri forests, and access is now restricted to daylight hours.

With around 200,000 people visiting Tāne Mahuta every year, the risk to the tree is considerable. Now, gates will open at 9am and close at 4pm daily, and kauri ambassadors are on site to further protect the taonga.

Other giants of the forest can be found within Waipōua Forest and in Trounson Kauri Park near Donnelly’s Crossing. A 40-minute loop track around a 101-year old ‘mainland island’ covers 450 hectares, packed with many thousand-year-old trees.

Kauri forest once covered the warmest parts of the country down to the Waikato, but with only 1% left, it is essential that visitors respect the need to clean footwear and equipment as they enter and leave the bush. 

Hear the word ‘diva’ and what comes to mind? It can be polarising. A new exhibition at Auckland Museum explores how the definition of a diva – meaning goddess in Italian – has been subverted and embraced over time, and how the label has been reclaimed by performers, fans and wider society.

From June to October 2025 DIVA will shine a spotlight on how the moniker has been used across gender, genres and history.

From nineteenth century opera singers and icons of stage and screen to contemporary global superstars including Madonna, Whitney Houston, Cher and Rihanna, DIVA celebrates how performers continue to redefine the term. 

Through iconic looks, posters, song sheets, personal items, photography and more, DIVA will demonstrate the phenomenal ability of the diva to transform and inspire. 

A new Kiwi musical tells the unofficial story of the 2012 change to New Zealand’s give way rule.

Performed at Wellington’s Circa Theatre, Give Way – The Musical is a comedic take on the rule change which saw all right-turning traffic give way to vehicles turning left, and the uproar it created among Kiwi motorists.

Join Sophie, an idealistic Ministry of Transport employee who wants to change the world. She starts with the country’s give way rule, knowing a change will make our roads safer. But she attracts a swathe of opposition from those who believe the new rule will destroy the lives of decent, hard-working New Zealanders.

The charming musical is penned by Invercargill resident Stephen Page who, when not writing award-winning scripts, is a postman in the small South Island settlement of Wallacetown. Performed by a five-strong cast of characters and accompanied by live music this quirky musical runs at Wellington’s Circa Theatre from April 26 to May 24.

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