👋🏼 Hello Hamilton

How are you spending New Zealand's national day? I’ll be checking out the Waitangi Day Festival at Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum and Gallery by the river in the CBD. It starts at 10am and is free entry—see you there!

First time reading Hello Hamilton? 👋🏼 Hi, I’m Ben from Hamilton East, and today we’re covering things to do in the Tron this week, the live music lineup, and news headlines you can’t miss. Join over 4,180 Hamiltonians here.

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🎟️ Events on in the Tron this week

Hamilton City Council Waitangi Day Festival | Thursday 6th 10:00am-5:00pm at Waikato Museum. Food trucks, live music, kapa haka performances, weaving workshops, and puppet shows and crafts for the kids, guided riverside history tours to learn about paa sites, gallery tours focused on Te Tiriti, and after-hours activities including exhibition talks and films. Free entry. Info.

Quiz Night | Thursday 6th from 7:00pm at The Keg Room. The quiz offers five rounds of big-screen trivia that's not too hard, not too easy, but includes content that relates to you and your crew! Info.

The Secret Circus 18+ | Friday 7th from 7:30pm at Biddy Mulligan’s. Witness jaw-dropping performances, mind-bending illusions, and mesmerizing acts that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Expect pole dancing, fire performance, circus skills, drag, comedy, burlesque and more fire! Tickets.

Legends Day Horse Racing | Saturday 8th from 11:30am at the Te Rapa Racecourse. A day where not only are Waikato Thoroughbred Racing's two Group 1 features run and won, it's also a celebration of racing legends throughout history with eight racetrack champions now living the retired life set to grace Te Rapa with their presence. Free entry. Info.

Circus in the Centre | Saturday 8th 12:00-2:30pm in Garden Place. Black Sheep Circus are turning the lawn at Garden Place into a lively circus zone, offering free family-friendly sessions where kids and family can explore circus skills in a relaxed and welcoming environment. Info.

Mosaic Class | Saturday 8th 12:00-2:30pm at The Link. In this 2.5-hour class, learn the techniques of this 500-year ancient craft, assembling geometric patterning as well as techniques for laying the tiles (tesserae). Using your selected geometric template, you will be guided to create your own traditional Turkish mosaic table lamp! Tickets.

Freestyle Kings Live | Saturday 8th from 6:00pm at FMG Stadium. From double black flips, front flips, BMX triple backflips and even a world-first stunt, the best Moto-X and BMX riders will be going sky-high throughout this two hour theatrical. Tickets.

Tomtit Farm Pick Your Own Flowers | Saturday and Sunday at Tomtit Farm. No bookings required, you can just show up and pick some flowers. Info.

87th Annual North Island National Dahlia Show | Saturday and Sunday at the Hamilton Gardens. Hosted by te Hamilton Dahlia Society, come along and enjoy the beautiful display of flowers. Info.

Intro to Dungeons and Dragons: Youth Day | Sunday 9th from 10:30am in the CBD. Know a young person 10+ who is excited about Dungeons & Dragons, but don’t know where to start? Bring them to Intro to D&D to learn the game with an experienced game master! Info.

Gourmet In the Gardens | Sunday 9th 4:00-8:00pm at the Hamilton Gardens. Come along with the whole family and listen to the local live music while dining from the lineup of local food trucks in on the Rhododendron Lawn. Info.

Te Roopu Raranga (Weaving Flax) | Monday 10th 6:00-9:00pm at Fraser High. Learn the basics of weaving starting with putiputi (flowers), advancing to a variety of baskets and kete. Tickets.

Beginners Pilates Class | Tuesday 11th 6:30-7:30pm at Northgate Church Rototuna. An introductory level 8-week class aimed at strengthening the core, increasing flexibility and raising awareness on how to maintain better posture. Info.

Always double-check event details haven’t changed since you received this email. Did I forget anything? Flick me an email.

🎶 Live music across Hamilton

Amuse at Skycity | St Marcus | Thursday 6th 3:00-6:00pm.

House on Hood | Jason Herrison & Friends | Thursday 6th from 4:00pm. Tickets.

Biddy Mulligan’s | Tim Armstrong and Campbell Hapi | Thursday 6th.

The Meteor | Mundi Trio | Friday 7th from 8:00pm. Info.

Amuse at Skycity | Algorhythm | Friday 7th 8:00pm-late.

Biddy Mulligan’s | The Gaffers and Seanachie | Friday 7th.

Westside Church Nawton | Jules Riding | Saturday 8th from 6:00pm. Info.

Hamiltom Workingmen’s Club | John McGough the Trumpetguy | Saturday 8th 7:00-10:00pm. Info.

Amuse at Skycity | Pow Wow | Saturday 8th 8:30pm-late.

The Back Bar | South Indian Youth Party | Saturday 8th 9:30pm-late. RNB x Afro x Techno x South Indian featuring ALKEMY, DJ RDX, DJ SHOTS and more. Tickets.

Biddy Mulligan’s | The Tarps | Saturday 8th.

Missing a show? Email me so I can get my act together!

👀 Hamilton headlines you may have missed

There’ll be new ballot system to get tickets to Balloons over Waikato Zuru Nightglow this year, ensuring it’s not first-come, first-served for the March 22 event at Claudelands Oval. Organisers say this move aims to ensure fairer access to the free event, which draws over 30,000 attendees on the night and 80,000 in total across the festival. Tickets.

Pedestrians pounding pavements will likely replace galloping hooves when Te Rapa Racecourse is redeveloped, experts say. Waikato Racing wants to create a hub for thoroughbred racing which would combine Te Rapa, Cambridge and Waipā clubs at a purpose built facility at a new address. This means all three current facilities would be sold, with Te Rapa the star attraction for developers. Read.

NZ’s biggest solar farm is coming to the Waikato, with construction due to begin this year. The Tauhei Solar Farm, near Te Aroha, is jointly owned by Harmony Energy Limited (based in the UK) and a Clarus company, First Renewables Limited (based in New Zealand). It will stretch over 182 hectares and will be on a scale unlike what New Zealand has seen before. Read.

A 2024 Quality of Life Project report, prepared for nine councils every two years, shows 77% of Hamiltonians surveyed rate their quality of life positively. 51% said they are happy with how Hamilton looks and feels. 79% agreed their home suits the needs of everyone in the household. 45% said they didn’t trust local government, 48% said they didn’t trust central government, and 46% said they didn’t trust media. Read the full report.

Hamilton Cosmopolitan Club, that paused trading due to a “major cash flow crisis”, is now open again. After The Cossie Club closed its doors to the public on January 25, Club president John Davidson says they are working through the issues and will continue trading from 1pm Friday. Read.

Despite the cost of living crisis, the Hamilton farmers market is bustling with buyers out to get fresh, local produce, for a reasonable price. The Waikato farmers’ market, held at Claudelands in Hamilton every Sunday, and in Cambridge every Saturday, attracts people from across the region in search of good seasonal produce and interactions of a different sort from the supermarket. Read.

The country's first 3D printed show home opened in Hamilton this week and so far it's attracting a lot of interest. Curved concrete walls with a distinctive rope-like texture are the first clue the show home in Rotokauri is no ordinary house. That's because all the walls have been made using a 3D printer, nicknamed Horace, at the Qorox Printing Facility on the southern outskirts of Hamilton. Read.

A newly-completed installation in the Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum in Tauwhare has turned chaos into art. The Portal Project was masterminded and built by award-winning Kiwi artist Marcus Tatton, with the help of his partner Sharlene Broughton. Read.

🚧 Roadworks

• Wairere Drive (from Pardoa Boulevard to Fifth Avenue) remains closed until Friday 7 February from 7pm – 6am, for road resurfacing.

• Highland Drive remains closed until Friday 7 February from 7am – 6pm, for a watermain renewal.

• Tristram Street (from Mill Street to Abbotsford Street) and Abbotsford Street (from Tristram Street to Willoughby Street) will be closed Saturday 8 February, from 4pm – 10pm for the Freestyle Kings event at FMG Stadium.

• Hukanui Road (from Clarkin Road to Tongariro Street) will be closed at various times between Saturday 8 February to Friday 14 February for road resurfacing and repairs.

• Heaphy Terrace (from Boundary Road to Claude Street) remains closed until late-February for wastewater upgrades and watermain renewal work.

Thanks for reading Hello Hamilton. If you found something useful, please share it with someone who is taking Friday off work to enjoy a long weekend!

Have any suggestions for what you would like to see in future editions? Reply to this email ([email protected]) and let me know! I’d love to hear from you.

See you next Thursday.

— Ben

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