The Spinoff’s top pick of events from around the motu. Here’s the best for the week February 5–12.
Welcome to The Spinoff event guide, your weekly, curated selection of gigs, events and exhibitions happening across Aotearoa. If you want to pitch your event for future guides then please use this handy form.
Waitangi
Members of the public watch the big screen on the upper Treaty Grounds on Waitangi Day 2025 (Photo: Te Aihe Butler)
Te Puia 9am–3pm Fri, February 6 $5 (children free)
“Celebrate Waitangi Day at Te Puia | New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute with a jam-packed day of cultural festivities, delicious kai and wānanga. Kicking off at 9:00am, we’ve got activities for the whole whānau!”
“Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds will perform a setlist drawn from their latest album Wild God, alongside songs spanning the four decades of their storied career, in this critically acclaimed two-and-a-half-hour show.” Also Aldous Harding is opening.
Nelson Centre of Musical Arts Various times, 5–7 February Multiple prices
“At the heart of the festival is artistic director Gillian Ansell of the New Zealand String Quartet, who personally invites an exclusive lineup of leading international and New Zealand musicians for ten days of exceptional music-making. The carefully curated programme spans classical masterpieces, contemporary commissions, artist talks and masterclasses — all presented in the intimate, acoustically superb Nelson Centre of Musical Arts.”
Claire Mabey is a children's author of The Raven's Eye Runaways, The Raven's Eye Rebellion, and a picture book Cass and the Beast illustrated by Jill Calder. For a long time Claire worked on literary festivals and is the founder of Verb Wellington. She lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara with her partner and son.
