Festivals
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February 8, 2024
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Feb 10, 2024
Calling all garden and art lovers! Come and explore some of the Whakatipu Basin's best gardens and art galleries, all in support of Plunket. Thursday 8 February - Sunday 11 February | Various venues around Queenstown | FREE - $100
The inaugural Gardens + Galleries event offers a beautiful cross-section of gardens, from small and compact to large park-like gardens, while the artists’ trails in the Whakatipu Basin represent a diverse group of local painters and sculptors.
Begin your tour at the Millbrook Conference Centre, 1124 Millbrook Resort, Malaghans Road, Arrowtown
Friday 9 February - Saturday 10 February, 10am - 4pm
$65 (all 1-day ticket holders)
$100 (all 2-day ticket holders)
Click here to book a one day pass
Click here to book a two day pass
Sponsors:
- ACAS
- Jarden
- David Reid Homes
- Bayleys
- Baxter Design
Programme of events
Opening Night Exhibition "Showing Favourites"
Thursday 8 February, 6pm
$25 (all ticketholders)
Lakes District Museum & Gallery, 49 Buckingham Street, Arrowtown
Be a part of the official opening of the inaugural Galleries + Gardens event. Come along to the “Showing Favourites” art exhibition where local collectors show fine art from their private collections. Enjoy a complimentary glass of Akarua wine and Whitestone cheese platters.
Millbrook Garden Kitchen Tour
Friday 9 February, 10am - 11am
Friday 9 February, 2pm - 3pm
Complimentary
Millbrook Resort, 1124 Malaghans Road, Arrowtown
Sustainability is interwoven in everything we do here at Millbrook Resort, and we are continuously improving our practices and efforts to preserve our slice of paradise. Our biodynamic kitchen garden is a key component of our commitment. Predominantly catering for the Millhouse, our Kitchen Garden grows the freshest and most organic ingredients, ensuring we are using only high quality, sustainably sourced produce for our seasonal menu. Edible flowers, herbs, micro-greens and vegetables thrive under our talented team’s biodynamic agriculture.
Fiona Garlick Artist Talk
Friday 9 February, 12pm - 12:30pm
Saturday 10 February, 12pm - 12:30pm
Complimentary
Fiona Garlick Gallery, 72 Buckingham St, Arrowtown
Visit sculptor Fiona in her lovely home studio and gallery, a short stroll from the village centre. Working predominantly in cast bronze and ceramics, Fiona’s works range from small hand-held objects of desire to large-scale outdoor sculptures.
Jenny Mehrtens Artist Talk
Friday 9 February, 1pm - 1:30pm
Saturday 10 February, 1pm - 1:30pm
Complimentary
Jenny Mehrtens Gallery, The Shed, Level 2/4 Buckingham Street, Arrowtown
Jenny Mehrtens is an Arrowtown artist, primarily a painter. She works in several series that reference her love of New Zealand’s history and natural beauty. Jenny has exhibited locally and internationally, and her works are in private collections worldwide. Visit her working artist studio and gallery in the picturesque Dudley’s Cottage precinct.
Giverny Sculpture Garden Tour
Friday 9 February, 2pm
Saturday 10 February, 2pm
$20
Giverny Estate, 78 Lower Shotover Road, Lower Shotover, Queenstown
Michael Nock has established a beautiful sculpture park on Lower Shotover road, in the midst of a long established homestead garden. A particular aspect is the water feature and ornamental bridge, hence Michael’s affectionate name “Giverny”. There are currently nine works by established contemporary artists, including Campbell Robertson-Swann and Janik Bouchette. The park is entirely private and we are very fortunate that a limited number of Gardens + Galleries visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy the sculptures, and Michael’s expert commentary on them. Ticket holders will also receive a voucher to try one of Nockie’s Palette’s beautiful wines at their cellar door near Lake Hayes.
Birdwoods Floor Talk
Friday 9 February, 4pm - 4:30pm
Complimentary
Birdwoods Gallery, 18 Buckingham St, Arrowtown
Birdwoods Gallery is home to a distinctive collection of international artworks. From handmade stone and metal sculptures to large scale photographic canvases, art, basketry, jewellery, ceramics and smaller crafts - everything at Birdwoods has a story and we are looking forward to sharing it with you.
Frances Hodgkins "Anything but a Still Life” Documentary & Director Q+A
Friday 9 February, 5pm
$35
Dorothy Browns Cinema, Bookstore & Bar, 18 Buckingham Street, Arrowtown
Friday showing and Q&A sold out, but an additional screening (documentary only) at 6pm on Saturday. Book below.
Spending much of her career in Europe, Frances Hodgkins was a modernist painter whose work continues to inspire contemporary artists. Known for her ‘open air still life’s’, Hodgkins' constant Mediterranean travels in the late 1920s and 30s provided abundant inspiration and a taste for the lush fruit, flowers, and landscapes she incorporated in her painting. The film retraces the Hodgkin’s footsteps, taking viewers to the places she lived and worked and shedding light on her challenges. Featuring insights from art experts as well as contemporary creatives, it celebrates Hodgkins' courage and determination as a pioneering woman in the arts and her enduring legacy.
Sponsors:
- Whitestone Cheese
- Akarua Wine
Baxter Landscape Design Workshop
Saturday 10 February, 10am - 11:30am
$45
Ayrburn, Ayr Ave, Arrowtown
Award-winning landscape architect Paddy Baxter shares his design process, discussing successful seasonal planting, alongside colleague and landscape architect Mark Stallard. Paddy’s experience included 10 years working for a large practice with responsibilities that included resort and urban design works throughout New Zealand. Paddy Baxter, and Baxter Design, has received several awards during the course of his career including major NZILA awards for the Queenstown Village Green, Millbrook Resort and a National Award for Blanket Bay Lodge. In April, 2013 BDG won an “NZILA Award of Excellence” for the Remarkable Primary School landscaping design. More recently, BD has won an “Outstanding Design” award from the NZILA for the Cromwell Town Centre Upgrade.”
Starkwhite Floor Talk
Saturday 10 February, 3pm - 3:30pm
Complimentary
Starkwhite Gallery, 1–7 Earl Street, Queenstown
Join gallery director Kelly Carmichael for a floor talk exploring the John Reynolds exhibition at Starkwhite Queenstown.
A contemporary art gallery representing leading local and international artists, Starkwhite has two New Zealand locations and exhibits widely abroad.
Romer Gallery Floor Talk
Saturday 10 February, 4pm - 4:30pm
Complimentary
Romer Gallery, 15 Earl Street, Queenstown
Award-winning New Zealand artist Stephan Romer is known for his large-scale and limited-edition landscape photography. Discover the South Island’s most wild and wondrous locations through the lens of a photographer of incredible precision and originality.
Frances Hodgkins "Anything but a Still Life” Documentary
Saturday 10 February, 6pm
$20
Dorothy Browns Cinema, Bookstore & Bar, 18 Buckingham Street, Arrowtown
Spending much of her career in Europe, Frances Hodgkins was a modernist painter whose work continues to inspire contemporary artists. Known for her ‘open air still life’s’, Hodgkins' constant Mediterranean travels in the late 1920s and 30s provided abundant inspiration and a taste for the lush fruit, flowers, and landscapes she incorporated in her painting. The film retraces the Hodgkin’s footsteps, taking viewers to the places she lived and worked and shedding light on her challenges. Featuring insights from art experts as well as contemporary creatives, it celebrates Hodgkins' courage and determination as a pioneering woman in the arts and her enduring legacy.
Twilight Opera in Springpointer Garden
Sunday 11 February, 5pm
$80 ACAS members, $90 general admission
Springpointer Garden, 70 Lower Shotover Road, Lower Shotover, Queenstown
The summer event of the season returns to Arrowtown on Sunday, 11 February 2024. Presented by the Auckland Opera Studio and Arrowtown Creative Arts Society, Twilight Opera is set in Springpointer garden against a dazzling mountain backdrop, making it one of the world’s most stunning stages for an outdoor opera concerts. Featuring a lively repertoire of popular operatic and theatre music from a range of talented singers from the Auckland Opera Studio, this is an event you do not want to miss. Please note the event will be held regardless of the weather.
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