Brilliant Things To Do in Auckland This March
The world's biggest waterslide, a surf film festival and sunrise yoga are just a few things to look forward to.
This weekend's our swan song to summer, but as we take to wearing longer pants and burying away our V tan line-marked feet into sensible real shoes, let's not let the social calendar drop off with the temperature just yet. There's still way too many brilliants things to do this month to let that happen.
Volvo Ocean Race
Okay, so you won't actually get to race, but you can place some well-earnt dollars on the counter top at nearby Stoneleigh pop-up bar and watch the sailors sail by live or on a screen. Maybe it'll be you next time.
27 February - 15 March, Te Wero Island
Auckland Arts Festival
Auckland is really outdoing itself this March, exhibit A: The Auckland Arts Festival. This year's programme is filled to the brim with activities. Including: the world premiere of French troupe Groupe F's Skin of Fire - a holy alchemy of light, fire and pyrotechnics; BLAM!, aka The Office had it starred Bruce Willis; Phox - a band with a bit of mid-western quirk; The Kitchen which is like a TV cooking show but with moody lighting, a dramatic narrative and twelve booming drums; Othello: The Remix - a hip hop adaption of the original Shakespearian play, Cedar Lake fearlessly integrates ballet into modernity; and Macbeth - a Congolese Verdian Shakespeare crossbred.
4 - 22 March, Various Locations
Sunrise Yoga
The penultimate sunrise yoga session is this March, and a perfect way to leisurely stretch out your body before wrapping it up in a quite constrictive suit for the day. Oh, and did we mention it's free?
7am, 4 March, Queen's Wharf
Aotearoa Surf Film Festival
The title and video trailer of The Cradle of the Storm, one of the films screening, explain it all. Let's not let our words get in the way of a beautiful thing.
6:30pm, 6 March, Central Studios
Mogwai
The Scottish post-rock band known for long instrumental riffs and dynamic soundscapes will be echoing their loud Impressionist sound within the walls of the Powerstation come early March. Bring earplugs.
8pm, 7 March, The Powerstation
Parquet Courts
Parquet Courts have what American Apparel, Levi's, Kate Hudson and everything typifying America has - that nonchalant casualness which makes even the most angsty situations seem like a saunter in the park. The band may fill their lyrics with the frustrations of youth, but it doesn't stop their sound from staying mostly in the recline position with the foot rest up for the duration of their set.
8pm, 9 March, Kings Arms
White Night
From 6pm until midnight on 14 March, more than a hundred Auckland locations - galleries, laneways and other spaces, will be dotted with creative things to experience, for free. Art on show includes Andy Warhol collaborator Billy Apple's The artist has to live like everybody else., a Java Dance Company performance inside one of the free busses and a multiplatform art collection by Serj Tankian, Kody Nielson, Bic Runga, Boh Runga and Shannon Novak.
6pm, 14 March, Various Locations
A Movement Tour
Although A Low Hum genius Blink has closed down shop on his very successful A Low Hum enterprise, he's now decided to take A Low Hum on tour - not the actual festival, but just photographs and film footage from the festival with various reputable musicians latching onto the bandwagon at various stops of this portable art gallery's trip around New Zealand.
19 - 21 March, Various Locations
World's Biggest Waterslide
Don't be mistaken, this isn't a superlative that the humans at Live More Awesome take lightly. The guys have actually built the world's biggest waterslide in the past, and this March they're bringing it back. To get your chance to, err, slide on the slide, buy yourself a ticket, or do some fundraising on behalf of the charity which focuses on conquering mental health problems. Good karma for the month sorted.
28 - 29 March, Jonkers Farm (near Bethell's Beach)
- The Ten Best Restaurants in Auckland
- Twelve Incredible Australian Islands for When You Want to Get Off the Mainland
- The Best Places to Go Glamping in New Zealand
- The Most Romantic Places to Stay in Bali When Proposals and Honeymoons Come Calling
- Our Guide to the Best Glamping Sites Around Australia
- Ten Films and TV Shows You Need to Stream This Month