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CBD retailers have endured tough economic times but a senior business leader is seeing more optimistic signals, while shop owners have mixed views about 2025.

Concerns include the impact on shopper numbers of having just one hour free parking in the CBD, introduced last year. Customers have reported being resistant to paying for more time.

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Hamilton Central Business Association general manager Vanessa Williams said on Wednesday that she’d been chatting to about half a dozen retailers this year about how things were going over January.

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Jeremy Mayall almost got a proper job once. Fresh out of school, he figured doing law at university would be the way to go.

The application included writing a page about why he wanted to be a lawyer.

As easy as that sounds - hey, just lie if you have to - he couldn’t do it. A fateful decision was made, he changed to a BA, majoring in music, screen studies and theatre.

These days the flamboyantly bearded Mayall is chief executive of Creative Waikato, a musician and composer, and a consummate proponent for the arts.

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Dumplings are one of the most common dishes ordered from a Chinese restaurant on any given day.

They’re not hard to make from scratch, as anyone from northern China will tell you. Growing up, dumpling making was the ultimate family activity - there’s no such thing as “too many cooks in the kitchen”.

With Lunar New Year approaching, why not give this dish a go? Trust me, as someone who is a terrible cook, it’s not as hard as it looks.

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Renting with SB owner Storm Benson started the business out of her university flat and now has a shop in central Hamilton.

When Storm Benson was a struggling student and couldn’t afford a different dress every week despite her desire to look good, the idea for a business was born.

Seven years later, she’s rented clothing to others more than 16,000 times, moved her side hustle from a Hamilton flat to a CBD shop and sends out 80-100 people into the world in a new dress each week.

The 27-year-old came up with the idea while at Waikato University.

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Try riding with Flex for only $2 per ride!

The New Zealand-built buses are smaller and have comfortable seats that are fitted with seatbelts and can carry 13 passengers, or 10 people and a wheelchair user.

Bookings can be made up to a week in advance of travel, or just 15 minutes before you’re ready to go. The buses are GPS tracked in real time, so you can track your ride in the Flex app.

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“For people wanting to get to and from the CBD, we’re really excited to be able to provide an affordable option for people wanting a corner-to-corner service rather than only stopping at bus stops,” said Regional Connections Committee Chair and Waikato regional councillor Angela Strange.

“The service will take people with a mobility impairment driveway-to-driveway – all you have to do is let us know when registering on the Flex app.

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Book now in three easy steps:

Download the FREE Flex app

Set up your rider profile with your preferred payment method

Select your preferred location, time and the best pick up and drop off points for your journey into the city - and return!

Easy! Group bookings are available (up to 13 seats) and Flex vehicles are wheelchair friendly too!

Flex operates every Friday and Saturday from 6pm-4am.

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Prepare for an exciting four days of art, culture, and community.

Boon Street Art Festival to Transform Hamilton with Stunning Murals and Cultural Experiences – March 13th-16th, 2025

Kirikiriroa, Hamilton, prepare for an exciting four days of art, culture, and community as the Boon Street Art Festival returns to Hamilton from March 13th to 16th, 2025. This exciting festival will feature an incredible artist lineup, an interactive community mural, and a variety of events designed to celebrate the city's creative spirit.

The talented artists set to showcase their work include international artist Alison Mooney, Alice Alva (Hamilton), Kophie Su’a Hulsbosch (Christchurch), Flox & Sweats (Auckland), Theo Arraj (Raglan), and Te Marunui Hotene (Whakatane).

One of the festival’s key highlights will be the sale of vibrant, one-of-a-kind murals. For just $3,500, each mural is accompanied by a plaque featuring the artist's name, a brief description of the artwork, and the buyer's logo. This initiative offers an exceptional opportunity to engage with and invest in the local creative world, allowing individuals and businesses to purchase artwork that truly lives on the street, enriching the public space.

We’re looking for passionate, team-oriented individuals who are eager to volunteer their time and energy to making this Street Art Festival come to life. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain experience, meet new people, and have some fun with like-minded individuals. To sign up or learn more, please email Megan at volunteers@boonarts.co.nz

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If you love art and puzzles, then this is for you!

Confinement Games and Boon Art is perfect for you! With cryptic directions and clues, find the art, solve the question, and move on. Learn about the artist, the artwork, have fun exploring the city, and discover artworks you may have never seen!

Choose which area you want to explore, grab your team, or go it alone. For groups, we recommend the purchase of individual games so that each player can have access to the app on their own device.  This way players can read and play at their own pace. There is no minimum or maximum number of people that can play at any given time.

Can be played anytime with no time limit either as a team or an individual. Solve clues, find the art!

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Matthew Cooper of Sport Waikato and Dr Jeremy Mayall of Creative Waikato met to experience Te Ara Toi o Te Taniwha.

Active and creative activities have long been recognised as pillars of community wellbeing, fostering physical health, mental resilience and social cohesion.

The uniting features of these activities are found in newin-app experience, Te Ara Toi o Te Taniwha, an interactive animated guided arts experience developed by Creative Waikato in partnership with PickPath.

This unique creative experience takes participants through the city’s CBD, exploring local street art and cultural stories in a game-like mixed media format.

Walking from the river to the highest point of Kirikiriroa Hamilton CBD, it creates a fun way to incorporate active movement through a creative experience.

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Whether you’re a local or a visitor, there’s so much to rediscover and enjoy. Start your journey with lovethecentre.co.nz, your ultimate guide to the best places to eat, shop, and experience in Hamilton’s central city.

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Hamilton has a thriving arts scene, and it's just getting better and better all the time.

Opening night for the $80 million Waikato Regional Theatre has been pushed out to next year, about a year later than originally planned, because of a tight market for materials and other factors. However, the budget is still going to script and structural.

Hamilton has a thriving arts scene, and it's just getting better and better all the time.

This is the view of one of those who has been a driving force in local theatre, both on the stage and in the back office.

“Green tights and a big plant outfit” is where it all started for theatre-maker and Clarence St Theatre general manager Shaun Bugden while a student at Hillcrest High School.

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The region’s leaders, canvassed on their key takeaways from 2024, have come up with some remarkably similar conclusions - and some great expectations.

Hamilton mayor Paula Southgate said her main lesson from 2024 was to “to keep the optimism and positivity to get through the tough times ... As a politician it is important to keep a positive lens on whatever it is you are doing.

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There is one thing I can’t forgive myself for after living 13 years as a JAFA - I didn’t know about Waikato River as a tourist destination.

I’d been to Hamilton many times before moving here. On a typical family trip, we would spend a morning at the Gardens and hop to Sichuan Style on Collingwood Street for their spicy fish fillet - a typical itinerary for many Auckland Chinese.

Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery celebrates its reopening with a jam-packed season ahead of amazing exhibitions and programmes.

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After a six-month closure for extensive renovations, the Museum is ready to welcome visitors to their opening weekend’s ‘housewarming’ celebration to experience the improvements as well as the four new exhibitions alongside established favourites including Exscite.

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Delicious Culinary

Live Music

Pop Up Stores

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Feat: Imachef, Toro Churro, Panda Golden Ear Dumpling, Mizzoni Pizza, Meezie Kitchen, Patrons Blazing BBQ PLUS MANY MORE!! 

Bar will be open with drinks flowing. Also boutique market stalls and live music.

in Casabella Lane on Saturday 11 October from 10 till 4pm

Spend $20 or more and get a lucky dip prize - there are books, totes, pens and more up for grabs.

Buy any two Penguin books and get your free 2025 Personal Penguin

Write a love letter to your bookshop to enter the draw for$250 in book tokens - 8 prizes to be won around NZ.

Keep an eye out for the Libro.fm Golden Ticket to win a year's audiobook subscription.

And pick up a copy of the brand new Summer Reading Guide. It's never too soon to start your Christmas wishlist!

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Australian Irish dancing touring company PACE LIVE is bringing all the craic of an Irish Christmas to New Zealand with their high-octane show, A Celtic Christmas! The cast features Auckland champion Irish dancer Keely O’Grady, who was the 2024 New Zealand & International Rose of Tralee; and Christchurch champion Irish dancer Mitchell O’Hara. These New Zealand locals will perform alongside world-class musicians and exceptional Irish dancers to bring New Zealand audiences the very best in the industry, including world champion dancers from international hit shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. The family show brings the heart-warming spirit of an Irish Christmas into a feel-good extravaganza filled with laughter, Christmas cheer, and the pure joy of the festive season for the whole family to enjoy. The show has recently enjoyed a hit on off-Broadway in 2024, and will tour across the North and South Island of New Zealand throughout November and December 2025.

Audiences can immerse themselves in the magnificence of Christmas in Ireland as they are transported to a land where energetic music and dance embody the beating heart of good craic! This feel-good show aims to give audiences a bit of Irish charm and features a company featuring over 15 of the world’s leading Irish performers and musicians. Featuring a powerful mix of traditional tunes, heartfelt ballads and all your favourite carols, A Celtic Christmas combines incredible music with jaw-dropping dance talent in an unforgettable night of storytelling and Irish charm.

Two Shows:

17th November, 2025 (Mon) 7:30pm

17th November, 2025 (Mon) 3:30pm

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Fire up the hot glue gun, mix up your paint pots, and sharpen your scissors! Whether you’re having yourself a Mini Little Christmas, or your tree puts the T in OTT, we want you to show us what the season means to you!

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Tree registrations will close at 5pm on Saturday 15th November or until we reach our max number - so please get in quick!

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The Trees at The Meteor exhibition will run from 10th-19th December 2025.

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More info coming soon.

Mark you calendar - Hamilton Central is the place to be this October!

Tickets from $20

Step into Exscite after dark for a Halloween adventure like no other. Hear ghost stories around the campfire, follow the trick-or-treat trail, and enjoy free face painting for all ages.

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Activity for the whole family!

We'll have activity stations for the whole family, including code-cracking and treat-bag making.

Follow the trick-or-treat trail and collect stamps to unlock a bag full of treats to take home.

Get into the Halloween spirit with free face painting from our friends at Enchanted Entertainment.

Gather around the campfire in Exscite to hear local ghost stories that will send a shiver down your spine.

Make your own treat bag at our creepy craft station.

Look out for a special guest roaming Exscite for photos.

Come along in costume whether you're a kid or a grown up!

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Jeremy Mayall will bring the music, you bring the craft. Bring a project from home to work on or enjoy a drink and soak in the vibes of our latest exhibitions.

29 October onwards

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Make a night of it

We're very excited to extend our hours for these monthly Open Late sessions.

Instead of closing at 5pm, Te Whare Taonga will be open until 9pm so that you can enjoy the exhibitions after-hours.

With drinks and nibbles available to purchase from our bar, you can get in the groove with a DJ or live music. Each month we'll have a new floor talk or panel discussion to get ideas sparking as you check out the galleries.

For our October session, we'll enjoy a performance by Dr. Jeremy Mayall, composer/performer/innovator and CEO of Creative Waikato. While he performs, you are encouraged to sketch or write or craft to relax. Bring a project to work on from home or enjoy a drink and explore our latest exhibitions.

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Held on the second Friday of every month (excluding December).

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Take a creative lunch break to explore art through poetry.

These free drop-in poetry sessions are the perfect way for beginners and poetry lovers alike to explore their creativity.

With a focus on ekphrasis (poetry written in response to art), this is a fun and creative experience that is about expression, not perfection.

Be inspired by our exhibitions and explore new ways to look at art and language.

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What to expect

Educator and poet Cassandra Barnett will introduce easy poetry techniques and prompts, help you see and connect with works of art, and encourage you to find your own creative voice.

Wander the galleries with pencil and paper, and support on hand, and poem what you see.

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Poetry prompts

If you can’t join the lunchtime session, drop in at any time on the day of Poetry in the Galleries and pick up a poetry prompt. Let the galleries guide your words and enjoy writing at your own pace.

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On a mission to create your dream home, renovate to sell, or ramp up the value of investment? Don’t miss the annual Waikato Home & Garden Show, where you’ll find everything you need to renovate, build, decorate and landscape your home under one roof.

As well as some great show-only deals, hundreds of exhibitors will be on hand to present exciting new products, stylish trends, innovative ideas and top quality service to help make your project a reality.

That’s not all – you’ll find something for the whole family including live cooking demos, seminars, demonstrations, food and drink, a kids zone and so much more!

10am - 5pm (4pm finish on last day of the show)

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Come and celebrate the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers with By The Way, NZs latest and greatest tribute band.

Be prepared to be transported to another galaxy, as the band perform the Chili Peppers greatest hits, with all songs you know and love - By The Way, Otherside, Californication, Under The Bridge…

Playing in Hamilton for one night only at the fabulous Nivara Lounge, doors open from 7pm with the band onstage at 8.30pm.

7pm Doors Open - 8pm Start

Earlybird Tickets $20

GA Tickets $30

TWO comedians, ONE night, ONE great price.

The most Haunted Comedian in all of New Zealand (Callum Wagstaff) and indie darling George Fenn (as Sexy Ghost Boy) are here to Split your Sides this Spooky Season, using comedy to defang all of your worst fears.

The show is strictly R18. It contains sexual themes and nudity up to underwear.

Doors open from 7pm, show at 8:30pm. There will be an intermission.

Tickets $30 waged / $20 unwaged / $35 on the door.*LIMITED* Early Bird 241 Tickets $15 each.

GEORGE FENN (he/she/they) George is a genre bending comedy theatre maker based in Ōtautahi specialising in audience interaction, described by witnesses as a hot mess mash up of Mr Bean and Marina Abramović.

Winner Organised Chaos Award (Auckland Fringe 2024) Bizarre and Charming Award (Hastings Fringe 2024) Spirit of the Fringe (2017 and 2020.) Nominated Outstanding Performer (Dunedin Fringe 2025)

“a theatrical alchemist, Fenn has the rare talent to create something utterly ridiculous yet very clever..." - Rosheen Fitzgerald, Theatreview

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12th October

9th November

14th December

$10 Entry

Join Hamilton Operatic Society at Nivara Lounge to get your musical theatre fix and support local performers!

The 'Downtown Musicals' nights aim to provide a platform for up-and-coming theatre performers to get experience performing in front of audiences, as well as those wishing to try something new or who maybe haven't performed in some time.

Each night performers will pick their songs based on a theme. The theme for October is Cinematic Showstoppers.

Doors open at 7 pm with performances starting at 7.30 pm.

Note: These Nivara Lounge nights are now 18+ for performers and R16 for audience members accompanied by a parent or guardian. For performers under 18, please look out for our Downtown Musical Jr afternoon sessions.

For any queries or to use membership tickets, email Pip at admin@hamiltonoperatic.co.nz

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