Some of Hamilton’s most loved locations were celebrated on Wednesday night at the 2025 Love the Centre Awards. Waikato Times visual journalist Christel Yardley was there to capture the glitzy event.
Palate – 346 Victoria Street
Celebrate Matariki 2026 with a Lunch on Sunday 12th of July featuring NZ Winter Truffles.
3 Course Lunch $95 per person
12pm -3pm
12th July 2026
Eat Burger – 346 Victoria Street
Celebrate Matariki with some good kai
This month, get your fried bread (He Paraaoa Parai) fix with our Roast Poaka Burger - juicy pork and watercress, with caramelised apple & kawakawa, and crunchy crackling, all encased in our house-made fried bread.
If you're after something sweet, grab a side of Fried Bread, served with maple syrup and butter. Yum!
Mr. Pickles – 298 Victoria Street
Mr. Pickles Bar & Eatery invite guests to observe Matariki with them, with a special menu curated to showcase their time-honoured favourites of kai Māori - spanning renditions of kai kōhua (boilup), kina, kōwhitiwhiti (watercress), pūrini mamaoa (steamed pudding) and of course parāoa parai (frybread)! From the 7th-11th of July.
Head chef matiu rapana (ngāti maniapoto, ngāti mākino) is fizzing to put kai māori up in lights this matariki
Confinement 6 Sapper Moore-Jones Place
Locals Day 25% Off
10 – 12 July
Make the most of Matariki Weekend with Locals Day at Confinement! This weekend only, do any of our escape rooms and save 25%
Don't miss out and book your spot now!
Hamilton Central Library - Te Koopuu Maania o Kirikiriroa
Matariki Stars T-shirt Printing
6 July | 3.30pm – 5.30pm
Come along to the Auaha Makerspace at Central Library and print Matariki stars on your favourite dark-coloured t-shirt or hoodie!
BYO clothing item to print on. Cotton and natural fibres and dark colours work the best.
Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery
Matariki at the Museum
Looking for a fun and creative way to keep tamariki engaged? Join us for our Matariki School Holiday Programme, featuring two unique hands-on experiences inspired by nature, culture and creativity.
Week One – Eel-y Good Fun!
6th & 8th July | 9am–3pm
Ages 8–14
$55 per child, per day
Discover the fascinating life of freshwater eels through science, art and play, then create your own unique soft-sculpture tuna.
Week Two – Taonga Puuoro
13th, 15th & 17th July 2026 | 9am–3pm
Ages 8–18
$55 per child, per day
Immerse tamariki in music with a hands-on introduction to taonga puuoro and discover the sounds of traditional Maaori instruments.
Limited spaces available! Register online or at our front desk.
4 July – 20 July
Have you ever dreamed of designing your own escape room? Now's your chance!
Confinement are challenging all their young masterminds to create tan escape room.
How to enter:
Draw it, build it (LEGO, cardboard, blocks – anything!), make one for your friends or send in a video explaining your idea.
Include:
What is your room's theme?
What special features or surprises does it have?
How hard is it? (Easy, Medium or Expert!)
The most creative entry will WIN a family escape room experience at Confinement!
Entries can be sent to us via Confinement's Facebook Messenger or dropped into Confinement Escape Rooms before 20 July.
We can't wait to see your incredible ideas... who knows, your room might even inspire one of our future adventures!
Get creating and let your imagination run wild!
Harkness Henry, one of the Waikato’s oldest and most respected law firms, and Malloy Goodwin Harford, a trusted provider of specialist legal services based in Newmarket, Auckland, have announced a merger, creating a stronger, more connected legal practice across the North Island.
The combined firm, which will practice under the name Harkness Henry, will welcome two new partners - Marise Allan and Patrick Casey.
The merger brings together two firms that are strongly aligned in their values of delivering legal excellence and have, independently, built reputations on the deeply held conviction that good people are what make a law firm thrive.
Sarah Rawcliffe, Managing Partner of Harkness Henry, says the merger reflects what both firms believe make legal practice.
“Good people are what make a law firm thrive, irrespective of geographic location or size. In a merged firm values must also be aligned. MGH operates the same way in Auckland that Harkness Henry operates in the Waikato: close client relationships, specialist advice, and personal legal service. This merger is fundamentally about creating better lives for our people, and better outcomes for our clients.”
Marise Allan, Partner of Malloy Goodwin Harford, says the merger with Harkness Henry consolidates and enhances the joint practices of the merged firm for the future.
“Malloy Goodwin Harford has been in business for nearly 35 years building a legacy started and grown by its founders and continued by the next generation. Merging with Harkness Henry that has just celebrated 150 years of legal practice, consolidates and enhances the legal offering we can provide to all our clients for the future.”
The merged firm’s 10-partner team, led by familiar faces on both sides, will bring together over 60 staff across five offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Cambridge, Paeroa and Matamata.
Rawcliffe says the merger offers the benefit of an expanded suite of legal expertise to all clients.
“The complementary nature of our two firms’ legal expertise was a driving factor in the decision to merge. We are now able to offer our clients a more complete service without compromising the personal, specialist approach that defines us both.”
Marise Allan and Patrick Casey, partners of Malloy Goodwin Harford, will join as partners of Harkness Henry. David Ruck and David Moorman will become Consultants for Harkness Henry and both Sarah Paterson and Sarah McLaren will continue as Senior Associates. All other MGH staff will continue working in the merged firm.
An intimate wedding shouldn’t mean compromising on beautiful details or timeless keepsakes.
Love in the Loft is Hamilton’s newest intimate wedding experience, offering pop-up elopement styled weddings in the very heart of Hamilton. Nestled in an 1899 character building, the space is drenched in natural light with big windows, creamy white walls and high ceilings. There's something naturally romantic about it, you'll almost forget you're in Hamilton Central once you're inside. Intimate by design, there is a capacity of up to 10, including the couple and celebrant, which is the perfect excuse to keep your guest list close and intentional.
As a wedding photographer, Shan has seen the big wedding budgets, the navigating family dynamics and the post-wedding blues. Some couples feeling like their day was taken away from them. Love in the Loft makes this moment all about the couple, and those closest to them.
Our story begun when a recently married friend saw the potential in our humble photography studio, sharing that she would have loved an option to get married in a space like ours. Since then, conversations with celebrants, vendors in the wedding industry and couples has proven that there is a need for something like this. How special to bring something like this to our CBD, bringing in a little extra love and magic into the heart of Hamilton.
This is for the ones who just wish they could run away and tie the knot, but don't want to go too far. The ones who want their day to feel like theirs. The ones who don't want to miss out on their dream dress or their desired honeymoon destination. Maybe even a destination wedding for those visiting from overseas.
We’ve teamed up with some local vendors and this winter we're offering an all-inclusive package to make tying the knot this season easy and stress-free. Our Winter Launch Special includes the venue, registered celebrant, photographer, florals, styling and food and drink. Our team takes care of the details so you can show up looking your best, marry your soul mate, leave with a new ring and some gorgeous photos! All of this for $2,800, with July and August dates available now.
We’ll also be opening our books for custom bookings, for those who have fallen in love with the space but aren’t ready to marry just yet.
All couples are welcome here.
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