Light and Sound

Overview

The Maori term Matariki labels the cluster of stars known as the Pleiades. This constellation is only visible from earth once a year, usually in early June, and for Maori the rising of Matariki heralds the start of a new year. The good news is, if you’ve slacked off on your January resolutions, you can make them all over again this month at the Matariki on the Waterfront festival.

The last weekend of July is set to be jam packed with festivities to celebrate the new year, including music, markets and Matariki workshops. The busy weekend kicks off on the Friday with the Light and Sound show. Silo Park will be decked out in lights by an array of talented sound and light artists, with a massive display projected onto Silo 6 and Silo 7. As well as this centrepiece. there will be numerous other light and sound installations dotted around the park by artists from the nation over. The talent includes Jon Baxter, the perceptual engineer who gets a kick out of creating amazing optical illusions and magical displays, and Angus Muir, who is a veteran from Art in the Dark and owner of Out of the Dark, and uses his architecture skills to build intricate LED art.

Whilst you stroll around the larger than life, outdoor exhibition, be sure to check out the range of street food on offer from a few of Auckland’s best pop-up vendors. The Silo Park container bar will be quenching your thirst, and there is a line-up of DJ’s including Che-Fu and King Kapisi that are sure to pick up the atmosphere and keep the evening going way into the night.