Where: The Classic Studio, Queen St, Auckland
Price: Tickets $20 + booking fees, from comedy.co.nz
2) Joyful noise
You might want to pack some earplugs for this one: The Joyful Junk Orchestra. The Creative Kids Collective is hosting an event at Fowlds Park tomorrow where children are invited to come along, get creative and get loud. The idea is to create your own instruments from everyday objects – yes, that includes pots and pans – and then join in a group jam or simply march to the beat of your own drum. It’s set to be a joyfully noisy experience for young and old.
When: Tomorrow, 10am-1pm
Where: Fowlds Park, Mt Albert
Price: Free
3) All aboard the Western Springs Tramway
Motat’s Tram 100 is one of only two operational steam-powered trams in the world.
Tomorrow is a Live Day at Motat, with one of its most popular themes: trams. The museum really gets rolling on Live Days, with the Lollyman, backyard games, the print shop, schoolhouse lessons, live music and activities. Tomorrow, Motat’s restored heritage trams will be operating on the Western Springs Tramway, including former Wellington double-decker Big Ben, Tram 47 and the museum’s pride and joy, Tram 100, one of two operational steam-powered trams in the world. Steam trains will be running between Sir Keith Park and Waitītiko Station as well. It’s a world of wonder for transport and history enthusiasts of all ages.
When: Tomorrow, 10am-4pm
Where: Motat, Great North Rd and Motions Rd, Western Springs, Auckland
Price: Usual Motat admission fees apply
4) Portraits of a Main Character
Natasha Wright mixes paint with sediment from past works to create unique textures. Photo / Andrea Bednarek
If you’re heading to Newmarket, stop in at Sanderson Gallery where a new exhibition by painter Natasha Wright opened this week. Titled Main Character, the exhibition includes eight large canvases featuring the female form – a protagonist in her own story or myth. Wright incorporated sediment from her used brushes and paint cans into her paint to give literal and figurative texture to the paintings: each painted woman contains “the memory of all the other painted women who have come before”. The works are bold and emotive, and well worth seeing in person.
When: Open until November 9
Where: Sanderson Gallery, Osborn Lane, 2-4 Kent St, Newmarket, Auckland
Price: Free entry (unless purchasing prints)
5) Art gazing and poi-making
Art, culture and poi. Experience a creative weekend at Corban Estate Arts Centre. Photo / Courtesy of Vince Heperi
Take a trip out west this weekend to the Corban Estate Arts Centre where last night two new exhibitions opened. Past Visions by Tony Brown explores the concept of “the Māori within coming out” through photorealistic paintings and his multi-disciplinary art practice. The second exhibition, Te-Kahu-O-Rangi, is curated by Cora-Allan Twiss and features kākāhu (garments) from award-winning Kapa Haka Roopu Te Taha Tū. Today, members of Te Taha Tū will be on site to teach poi-making from 11am-1pm, with visitors able to see the intricate garments the Māori performing arts group have worn on stage before making something to take home under the guidance of those same performers.
When: Until November 29
Where: Homestead Galleries, Corban Estate Arts Centre, 2 Mt Lebanon Lane, Henderson
Price: Bookings required for poi workshop at ceac.org.nz
6) We all scream free ice cream
Little ’Lato’s pink wafer gelato won the 2025 Open Creative Champion award.
Hopefully you’re reading this in time to hop on your bike and head down to Little ’Lato in Ponsonby or Hamilton, where free scoops of its award-winning pink wafer gelato are up for grabs. It’s a collaboration with American Express for its Amex Shop Small campaign, the purpose of which is to encourage people to support local small businesses, something we can all get behind. It’s the first time this flavour, which won the Open Creative Champion at the 2025 NZ Ice Cream and Gelato Awards, is being served to the public and it’s on a first-in, first-served basis, with the Ponsonby branch giving away 300 free scoops and Hamilton 200. So get down there lickety split.
When: Today from 11am
Where: Little ’Lato Ponsonby, 119 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby, and Little ’Lato Hamilton, 401 Grey St, Hamilton East
7) Classical concert at St-Matthew-in-the-City
St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra has been performing in Auckland for more than 50 years. Photo / 123rf
Auckland’s longest standing orchestra – St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra – is performing its final concert of the year tomorrow afternoon, featuring music by Vaughan Williams, a commissioned work by Webster and Brahms’ Symphony No 1. The concert, titled First Monument, is conducted by Michael Joel, with Gillian Ansell playing the viola solo. Technically an amateur orchestra, SMCO rehearses and performs like a professional one, and its members include some of Auckland’s best classical musicians.
When: Tomorrow, 2.30pm
Where: St-Matthew-in-the-City, 132 Hobson St, Auckland Central
Price: $30–$35 + booking fees, children under 12 free with a paying adult, from eventfinda.co.nz
Plan ahead: Dinner with a side of chaos
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is officially endorsed by the BBC. Photo / Jane Hobson
The popular Faulty Towers The Dining Experience concludes its nationwide tour at the Auckland Irish Club next week. You’ll have to move fast to get tickets because several nights have already sold out. The West End show was a hit when it toured here last year. It features a hilarious cast, largely improvising throughout the night, in the roles of beloved Fawlty Towers characters. You’ll get a three-course dinner, hopefully; entertainment, most definitely; and a great story to tell of your evening of chaos and hilarity
When: October 21-26
Where: Auckland Irish Club, Rocky Nook Ave, Mt Albert
Price: $113 + booking fees, from eventfinda.co.nz
Plan ahead: A treasure chest of comedy
Captain Morrow’s creators won the Bobby Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Photo / Andi Crown
Making its Aotearoa debut, Captain Morrow and the Sands of Time opens at Q Theatre on Tuesday. Starring Ella Hope-Higginson and Callum Brodie as an entire pirate crew of more than 40 characters, this wacky 60-minute show is guaranteed to give you some hearty laughs. Directed by Barnie Duncan, the two actors are joined on stage by musician Ali Sewell as they race against the British Navy to find the treasured Sands of Time. The show received the Bobby Award for writing at Edinburgh Fringe and a spate of glowing reviews. It’s short and sweet and a comedy treat.
When: October 21-November 8
Where: Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland Central
Price: Tickets $32.50-$42.50 + booking fees, from qtheatre.co.nz
Coming up
NZSO’s Affirmation: Dvořák & Brahms: October 23, Wellington. October 24, Auckland.
Titirangi Festival of Music: October 25-26, Titirangi, Auckland.
British and Irish Film Festival: October 29-November 19, nationwide.
Bill Bailey – Vaudevillean: nationwide tour from October 29-November 23.
Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo: October 30-November 9, Spark Arena, Auckland.
Dungeon of the Damned: October 31-November 2, Birkenhead, Auckland.
Auckland Festival of Quilts: October 31-November 2, Auckland Netball Centre.
The Trusts Halloween Spooktacular: November 1, New Lynn, Auckland.
Analogue Aotearoa: November 1-2, Te Aroha.
Tofiga Fepulea’i, Shuuush Your Mouf: November 1-8, Hamilton, Auckland, Tauranga.
A Journey to See Exhibition: November 1-21, Lake House Arts, Takapuna.
The Dry House: November 4-15, Basement Theatre, Auckland.
Harry Enfield And No Chums: November 13 and 21, Auckland.
Kowhai Art & Craft Club Sale and Exhibition: November 7-9, Matakana Hall.
NZ Sculpture OnShore: November 7-23, Devonport, Auckland.
Parnell Festival of Roses: November 9, Parnell, Auckland.
All Together Now Choir, Mixtape for the Mission: November 9, Auckland Town Hall.
Auckland Rose Society Annual Show: November 15-16, Parnell, Auckland.
An Evening with Priscilla Presley, Life after Elvis: November 20, Bruce Mason Centre, Auckland.
Eddie Izzard – The Remix Tour Live: November 21-26, Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland.
H.R. The Musical #2: November 25-December 6, Q Theatre, Auckland.
92nd Farmers Santa Parade: November 30, Auckland.
Kirk Franklin, The World Tour: December 10-13, Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland.
Dynamotion & Q Theatre present A Christmas Crisis: December 10-20, Q Theatre, Auckland.
Oprah In Conversation: December 14, Spark Arena, Auckland.
The ASB Classic: January 5-17, Auckland.
Jimmy Carr – Laughs Funny Tour: Nationwide January 7-28, 2026.
Auckland Folk Festival: January 23-26, Auckland.
Email canvas@nzherald.co.nz with brief details of your upcoming event, including dates/times, location and website.