Are you looking for something to do for Valentine’s Day that is more than just dinner and a movie? We’ve gathered a few ideas for you to really make Valentine’s Day special.
Opus Orchestra are inviting you to put some love – and music - into your hearts this Valentine’s Day at Symphony in the Gardens. To celebrate the opening night of the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival the orchestra will be presenting a programme of classical masterpieces and popular favourites on the beautiful Rhododendron Lawn. Be sure to stick around for the fireworks display too.
Delaney Davidson and Marlon Williams continue their ‘Sad But True’ tour, bringing their blend of sorrowful blues, local folk songs and country music to Tauranga. The music of Sad But True explores that tired cliché and turns the concept on its head. The pair has released two albums together, the first of which won NZ Country Music Album of the Year at last year’s Tuis.
Christchurch’s Festival of Flowers is commemorating its 25th anniversary with the theme of ‘Love Our Garden City’. Walk among the floral displays in Cathedral Square during then day, and visit the ‘Love Our Artists’ exhibition opening at CPIT that evening. This year’s installations include the Chalice Floral Garden, He Whariki Art and Craft, ReinCARnation (florally decorated cars), Discovery 1 School Garden, Japanese Garden, Floral Art, and Ethnic Communities Garden Displays.
Turn Valentine’s Day into Valentine’s Weekend at the biennial music and arts festival Splore. The Tapapakanga Regional Park is transformed into a magical wonderland where on one stage, the audience can watch bands from the ocean. With a festival theme of love and dressing up strongly encouraged, Splore is the festival for celebrating individuality, living the life you love and loving the life you live.
When Kirin J Callinan sings about love and relationships he does it with a snarl and howl. The Camp a Low Hum alumni is provocative and confronting in the most alluring way. Performing at King’s Arms this Friday, Callinan is the perfect antidote to red roses and teddy bears.
Written and directed by acclaimed Wellingtonian Uther Dean, A Play About Fear follows on from My Accomplice’s previous productions about love and space. In Fear, all Charlie and Lucy wanted was a quiet night in watching scary movies. Instead the friends live out their horror when one goes missing and the other is forced to confront monsters, cults and killers in an effort to find them.
What better way to explore the highs and lows of love than by watching a play written by the greatest English writer of all time? Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a miracle of comic and dramatic suspense and gives us, in the bantering of Beatrice and Benedick, two of Shakespeare’s wittiest, most captivating pair of lovers. Staged in The PumpHouse Amphitheatre, this is the last showing of Shoreside Theatre’s popular summer season. In Wellington, adventure theatre company Bard Productions shipwreck their audience in a hilarious adaptation of the Tempest called A Tempest off Matiu-Somes Island. As the name suggests, the audience will be traveling to Matiu-Somes Island, with the show starting as soon as they step foot onto the ferry at Queen’s wharf. Mystical creatures and grotesque monsters - created by award-winning makeup artists and costume designers - will take audience members on a journey over turbulent seas and through the massive labyrinthine Animal Quarantine Station on Matiu/Somes Island.
If the boat trip part of that event sounds like your kind of thing, but not the Shakespeare, there are a few Valentine’s cruises happening on Friday night. Each departing from Auckland, the Valentine's Day Dream Sunset Cocktail Cruise, Valentine's Day Bollywood Boat Cruise and the other Valentine's Day Bollywood Boat Cruise all promise a romantic evening on the water with beautiful views, champagne and a delicious menu. Have a look at the details of each event to see which suits you best.
Now an annual tradition, The Princess Bride will be screened on the side of a silo down at Silo Park. Take along a blanket, a picnic and cosy up under the stars. Continuing the theme of star-crossed lovers, you can also watch Allie and Noah of The Notebook and Rose and Jack of Titanic play out their romantic tales in the now-classic films this Valentine’s Day. Or there is Silver Linings Playbook for those who like their relationships a little more dysfunctional.
