The Spinoff’s top pick of events from around the motu. Here’s the best for the week November 27–December 4.
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.
Whangārei
Visual art/Christmas: Festival of Christmas Trees
St John’s Church, 149 Kamo Rd
December 1 – 24
Free
“A spectacular display of over 40 Christmas trees decorated by community groups, schools and youth organisations.”
Rotorua
Christmas: Rotorua Christmas Parade
Rotorua Government Gardens
10am–11am Sat, November 29
Free
Floats and fun for all as December nips at our heels. The history of the Rotorua Christmas Parade (the first was in 1903!), and details on this year’s route, are online here.
Whakaoriori
Visual Art: Robyn Kahukiwa – Tohunga Mahi Toi
Aratoi, 12 Bruce St
November 25–January 11
Free
“Robyn Kahukiwa’s artworks have made a difference to Māori. They have provided not only beauty and strength but inroads into our mātauranga, and the multi-layered, inter-generational and ever-evolving stories that are part of our cultural landscape.
Robyn’s work takes us on circular routes through time, with Māori accounts given proper currency and weight. Her work has become an alternate visual rendering of Aotearoa’s history, through the lens of a Māori woman.” Curated by Roma Pōtiki (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa).
Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Literature: Crip the Lit: Are you my ancestor?
Two/Fifty-Seven, 2/57 Willis St
6pm Wed, December 3
Free but register here
“Verb Wellington and Crip the Lit mark International Day of Disabled People with literary flair – and a nod to the past. Crip the Lit writers will share an eclectic line-up of snappy new poems and prose celebrating the rich world of disability ancestors. Expect a few slyly subversive takes paired with deep, and often hilarious, insights.” An NZSL interpreted event.
Ōtautahi
Literature: Author Talk – Lynley Edmeades with Kiran Dass
Scorpio books
5.30pm Thursday, November 27
Free
“Lynley Edmeades is the author of Hiding Places, a compelling and beautifully written meditation on early motherhood and creativity published in September 2025. Told through a series of fragments that range from raw and troubled to delightful and hilarious, this remarkable book responds to the unexpected shocks and discoveries of becoming a mother, drawing on excerpts from family letters and secretive medical records, and advice contained in Truby King’s 1913 tract, Feeding and Care of Baby. This author talk will include discussion on this wonderful and strange book, already a favourite with the Scorpio Books staff.
All welcome, this is a free event. Refreshments provided. Please send in your RSVP.”
Ōhinehou
Music: Jazmine Mary Hot Sad Summer Tour
Wunderbar
8pm Fri, November 28
$30
“Jazmine Mary is a noir folk artist whose work evokes haunting beauty, poetic grit, and unflinching vulnerability. They were the 2022 winner of the Auckland Live Best Independent Debut award for their album The Licking of a Tangerine.”
Ōtepoti
Christmas Festival: Christmas in the Garden
Dunedin Botanic Garden
3pm–8pm Sat, November 29
Free
“Family fun, live entertainment, games and more! Bring the kids and a picnic or grab a bite from one of the food trucks.” Entertainment includes: MC Tahu Mackenzie, Rainbow Rosalind, Em and Me, Dubious Groove, DKCM Christmas All Stars and Santa.
