Celebrating local films and filmmakers, the Wairarapa Film Festival launched last night and continues until Sunday. The programme includes a retrospective of films by Greytown-born and internationally acclaimed artist and filmmaker Vincent Ward, plus film screenings with special guests at Regent 3 Cinemas. On top of that, there are poetry readings, masterclasses, Rangatahi youth filming workshops, wet plate photography and much more.
Friday, May 24 to Sunday May 26. Times, locations, and prices are variable – see waifilmfest.co.nz for details.
Pick your own apples
Molewood Orchard in Greytown is opening its gates to the public this weekend [and next]. The orchard is run as an independent family business, and the Cookes look forward to welcoming visitors for the second year running and introducing a new generation to the delight of picking fresh, sun-warmed apples off the tree.
9am–4pm, Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26 at 17 Mole Street, Greytown. Admission is free; apple prices per kg are available from molewoodorchard.com
Get revved up
As is always the case on the last Sunday of each month, car and motorbike owners are invited to bring their rides to the Mangatainoka Motors Show and Shine Day at Tui Brewery, and members of the public are encouraged to come along and admire them. The event also includes live music, delicious food, and the chance to imbibe in a cleansing ale, among other things.
9.30am–5pm, Sunday, May 26 at Tui Brewery, State Highway 2, Mangatainoka. Free admission.
The sound of
four hands playing
The Greytown Music Group is hosting pianists Beth Chen and Nicole Chao, and their “Twenty Finger Orchestra” this Sunday. Chen and Chao first started playing four hands piano while they completed their Masters of Music in Piano Performance together at the NZ School of Music, and began playing as a duo in earnest in 2017. The programme includes meditative works by Bach and John Psathas, the mysterious and intriguing sound worlds of Rachmaninov’s Six Morceaux Op.11 and Schubert’s Fantasy in F Minor, and dance music in the form of Ravel’s monumental La Valse, and Strauss’s exhilarating Blue Danube Fantasy.
4pm on Sunday, May 26 at 57 Wood St, Greytown. Admission: $30, children $10. To book, email [email protected], or call 06 304 9497.
Bringing the noise
Real-life troubadours We Mavericks [aka Victoria Vigenser and Lindsay Martin] return to NZ to perform “a carefully curated collection of tracks from their forthcoming album”, sophomore effort ‘All This Noise’. The twosome has been described as contemp-folk, alt-country and acoustic-pop, and are renowned for “the deeply heartfelt way they relate to their audiences”.
7pm on Sunday, May 26 at Carterton Event Centre. Admission: $32.50 adults, $27.50 concession. Bookings via cartertonec.co.nz/bookings
