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Waikato taniwharau. He piko he taniwha, he piko he taniwha.
There's always something new to discover in the heart of Hamilton city. Let us be your guide as you rediscover the charm, culture, and character that make our city centre unique.
The Waikato Local
Opinion: Vanessa Williams
Hamilton's central city is buzzing with activity, making it a prime spot for businesses and events to flourish.
Recently, Love the Centre and NAI Harcourts showcased the exciting growth happening in the area, with a development tour for the central city business community.
The tour kicked off at the south end of town with the impressive Waikato Regional Theatre.
This project is really taking shape, and attendees got a unique perspective from the rooftop of the newly refurbished Subway building at 159 Victoria Street.
The theatre, which is set to be completed this year, reached a milestone on March 3 with the removal of the last crane, dramatically altering the city's skyline.
For a striking view of the Hinuera stone- clad walls, auditorium structure, and the crowning Fly Tower, the theatre team recommends visiting Victoria on the River and looking upstream.
Next, the tour visited the redeveloped Westpac House at 426 Victoria Street, where attendees admired the state-of-the-art 'end of trip' facilities, including a fully equipped gym for Westpac House tenants, Tompkins Wake.
The tour continued to 500 Victoria St, across from Centre Place, where Prime Property highlighted their substantial investment in modernising this iconic seven-story building, enhancing its prominent status and offering stunning views.
The final stop on the tour was the tallest tower in the central city, where attendees learned about the Pullman Hotel development,which is set to be completed next year and incorporating a variety of unique offering for guests.
This exciting project promises to significantly contribute to the revitalisation of Hamilton's central city area.
These substantial developments give even more reason to Love the Centre.
Vanessa Williams is the general manager of the Hamilton Central Business Association
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The popular bakery has opened a new production kitchen next door to its original location, marking a major milestone in just four years of business.
The added space will help streamline operations and support the growing demand, allowing the team to focus on speciality products without the constraints of the main bakery.
Flex Fitness provide access to state-of-the-art equipment and expert advice, ensuring you have everything you need to achieve your fitness goals.
Why Choose Flex Fitness?
Staffed Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 10am - 7pm
Friday: 10am - 4pm
Saturday: 9am - 12pm
Join Flex Fitness Hamilton and take the first step towards a healthier, happier you!
Centuries ago, Genghis Khan’s warriors cooked their meals over fire on their shields as they journeyed to conquer the world.
Fast forward nearly a thousand years, and Hamiltonians are hooked on the sizzling flavours of Mongolian cuisine - minus the battle gear.
At Anytime Fitness Hamilton, their mission is to provide you with a total fitness experience designed to help you reach your goals. A healthy lifestyle doesn’t start and stop at the gym—it starts with a plan, which is why we offer solutions that incorporate fitness, nutrition and recovery to provide a 360 approach to your wellness journey. The first step begins with a coach, so contact us today to get started!
Their goal is to help you tackle anything that stands in theway of a healthier you, together. They know fitness journeys don’t follow astraight line, and our coaches are fluent in helping you get back on trackafter detours. They are ready to meet you where you’re at, build a customizedplan that works for you and keep you feeling motivated, strong and confident.
They’ve got everything you need to reach your goals fromcoaching to equipment—and everything in between. Enjoy a customized workoutplan, 24-7 access to the gym, squeaky clean surfaces and equipment, along with24-7 security to keep you safe while you make healthy happen.
See hours for staffed hours.
As an award-winning facility, they offer a variety of health and fitness options. More than just a gym, Fastlane Fitness is your gateway to prioritising wellbeing. Join our community of passionate wellness educators and take control of your health and fitness journey today.
Gym, Swim, or Combo
Our facility features some of New Zealand’s leading fitnessequipment brands, a 30-metre lunge track, a dedicated strength area,air-conditioning, and large windows for fresh air. Our motivating trainersensure a safe and welcoming environment.
They have three separate studios for group fitness, including boxing, stretch, HIIT, Yoga/Pilates, and crank. Need help overcoming roadblock? Book a personal training session with one of our expert trainers. They also host regular Fit Camps, challenges, WODs, and offer fantastic prizes.
Swimming - A Skill for Life!
At Fastlane, they are passionate about swimming and watersafety. Our swim school offers lessons for school-aged children and adults,running from Monday to Saturday with both group and private sessions available. They provide a fun and supportive learning environment to build confidence anddevelop lifelong water skills. Classes are organised by ability and age, withappropriate group sizes to maximise learning.
New school-aged swimmers must book a free assessment to beplaced in a suitable class. Sign up through our customer portal below.
Feedzone - CBD
At the Feedzone, you can enjoy healthy breakfasts, lunches,or salads to take away or eat in. They offer snacks, protein shakes, bars,smoothies, Mojo coffee, and more.
Feedzone is open weekdays from 6:30 am to 3 pm. Cold drinks,protein shakes, water, and bottled juices are available anytime. Pre-ordersalads for dinner pickup, or grab pre-packed options from reception after 3 pm.
Love the Centre are proud to be a sponsor of the iconic @boonartshamilton Street Art Festival and yesterday we took a group along for a tour with Boon guide Anne Marie!
We visited two artists in action where our group had the opportunity to view their murals and talk with the artists to find out more about the inspiration behind their artworks. After the tour we headed to Waikato Society of Arts @artwaikato for refreshments and to view more amazing art!
Congratulations to Boon Street Art Festival who are celebrating 10 years and 100 murals in our city!
Artists we visited on our tour.
Flox & Sweats
320-324 Victoria Street (SkyCity car park wall opposite Garden Place).
Flox aka Hayley Kings distinct vibrant murals and art celebrate Aotearoa’s unique flora and fauna. In this collab she is painting with SWEATS aka Pierre Hadlow, an Auckland-based multidisciplinary artist. Their unique creative fusion is on a ‘Hero’ wall in Kirikiriroa.
@floxnz
@sweats___
Alison Mooney
Behind ArtsPost - 100 Victoria Street
Alison Mooney is an Australian artist “exploring colour, movement and curiosity” from her studio on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
@alison__mooney . Alison is creating a playful and colourful mural on a large grey wall below ArtsPost.
Festival runs 13-16 March
Get amongst it! To find out more about the fantastic line up of events, mural locations and artist's.
The Festival of Weird has, since Wednesday, enlivened the usually not-too-lively environs of central Hamilton with a cavalcade of quirky characters and activities.
While the lunchtime crowds may not have been huge, those who have passed through will have been entertained and intrigued by the part-man-part-fish happily chilling out on the park benches, watching the passers-by passing by; or, perhaps, the pair of extendible eyeballs of possible extraterrestrial origin moving about of their own free will.
The Alma Street restaurant has built a loyal following, including a couple of original diners who keep coming back for the same dish, the owners say.
Since taking over in 2007, owner Marco Scarpa has preserved the essence of traditional Italian cuisine, sending out dozens of the top-selling dishes each week.
Those behind the restaurant put its success down to quality ingredients and time-honoured recipes.
With a line-up that boasts acts named Ukulele Death Squad, DeeJay Handbrake and the Black Sheep Circus it’s clear that the Festival of Weird is no ordinary series of events.
Beginning on Wednesday, March 5 - just three days after the conclusion of the Hamilton Arts Festival - the Hamilton/Kirikiriroa Festival of Weird promises more off-beat fare than its better-known cousin.
A good portion of the week’s worth of envelope-pushing entertainment will be a series of free daily shows in Garden Place, including street theatre, acrobatics, and live music.
A white Mazda has pulled up at lights on Hamilton’s Victoria St, and Abba’s Dancing Queen is blaring. There’s a young man driving and a group of young women swaying to the music and waving drinks on their way to town for Friday night. It’s O Week, the Chiefs have just beaten the Crusaders at FMG Stadium Waikato, and Hamilton student bar The Outback Inn is hosting a beerfest. One guess where the party girls are heading.
If it’s the Outback they’ll be in a line of succession stretching back 30 years, after the Outback opened for its first O Week in 1995.
There were a few beaming faces and one big beam that was the centre of attention at the Waikato Regional Theatre on Wednesday.
The beam in question was a 600kg steel strut that was lifted into place atop the theatre’s flying tower, shortly after midday - but not before it was decorated with about 30 signatures of those who have had central roles in the project.
There were also speeches by Foster Construction project manager Ben Royfee and Waikato Regional Property Trust chairman Ross Hargood and a sausage sizzle for the workers.
Music floated through the air, mixing with the gentle hum of laptops and casual conversations.
Some people tapped away at emails under the shade of umbrellas, while others took in a massage, stretched out with breathwork exercises, or soaked up the scorching sun with a coffee in hand.
Instead of rigid schedules and deadlines, attendees were free to take the day at their own pace.
26 September
31 October
28 November
Join us on the last Friday of every month (except December) for a relaxed morning at the Museum designed especially for whaanau with babies and pre-school aged children.
Enjoy a welcoming space to connect with others and explore the galleries at your own pace. We'll be in a different gallery every month and our friendly team will be on hand to answer questions and help you feel at home.
Whether you're new to Hamilton or just looking for a gentle outing, this is a great way to enjoy art and culture in a baby-friendly environment.
Join for one or both of the following practice sessions:
Monday 15 September, 1pm – Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum
Wednesday 17 September, 3:30pm – Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum
This joyful community experience welcomes singers of all levels to join together in song at waiata practices during September, culminating in a vibrant waiata nui (big sing) in the galleries of Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum.
Join te waiata nui - the big sing!
This year marks a special milestone – 50 years of Te Wiki o Te Reo Maaori. To celebrate, we’re inviting our community to come together for Te Waiata Nui – The Big Sing in the galleries of Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum.
Led by local legend and kaiako Harley Pitihira, this event is a celebration of music, language, and connection. Whether you’re a confident singer or just love to hum along, everyone is welcome.
The annual First Credit Union Christmas Parade is a must do Christmas experience for the young and young at heart. Come and join us for the festival fantasy as around 80-90 floats parade down Anglesea Street in central Hamilton.
This years’ beloved holiday parade features colourful grand floats representing the unique communities of Hamilton. Come and join us to see crazy characters, lively marching bands, dance group, ethnic groups, characters, amazing character balloons, and of course Santa Claus!
The Parade starts at the corner of Rostrevor and Anglesea Streets, travels down Anglesea Street, and ends at the corner of Anglesea and Knox Streets. The length of the route is 1.2km.
Get ready for an unforgettable night as we light up the Christmas tree for the first time. This exciting event promises a night of festive fun and dazzling lights! Join us in Garden Place on Saturday, 29 November, from 5pm to 9pm. We’ll have food trucks, various characters, face painting, balloon art and live entertainment! Don’t forget your picnic blankets. Stay tuned, the full programme will be available soon.
Join us at The Factory for Hamilton’s biggest Rock 2000 countdown party on Friday the 26th of September. This is the only place in the Waikato where you can enjoy the biggest rock songs of all time with a classic Beerfest twist. We’ll have a limited number of one litre steins (available with your favourite brew), free BBQ and spot prizes for heading down early. Entry is still free and doors open from 3pm
Saddle up, Cowboys and Cowgirls!
Get ready for The Country Superstars Experience, where the spirit of the Wild West meets the best of country music!
Join us for a boot-stompin', hat-tippin' party like no other, as Rodeo Rhythms brings you the ultimate country extravaganza!
Dust off your cowboy boots and two-step your way to our ranch for a night of dancing under the stars to the biggest country anthems from the decades! 
Featuring a live band alongside Morgan Wallen & Luke Combs Tribute.
Experience the magic of live performances, DJ sets, and dancers as they bring the hits of legends like Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and Shania Twain to life, alongside modern favorites from Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, and Taylor Swift!
Wing Valley Productions brings Outside In
Seven women navigate their lives and themselves inside prison, trying to manage how much the outside seeps in. As a new inmate arrives and another prepares to leave, the cracks appear in a dangerously-thin veneer of order.
Beaton created the script out of “…a desire to create roles for women where they are seen as the subject and not the object”.
Playmarket describes it as, “Brutal, funny and at heart, a love story…. an intensely honest portrayal of seven women’s lives within the hostile world of prison.”
24th September, 2025 (Wed) 2:00pm
24th September, 2025 (Wed) 6:00pm
Coming to Hamilton in the September school holidays, New Zealand’s own ‘Circus of Illusion Magic Show’. 90 minutes of fast-paced family entertainment!
Featuring New Zealand’s premiere Illusionist Andre Vegas and Company performing large-scale mind-blowing illusions. Special guest artist, Joel Fenton, known as Cirque Stuntman. With a mix of comedy and audience participation see him juggle chainsaws and get sucked inside a giant balloon.
Witness the incredible and stunning Nunya Bender. Presenting amazing aerial and contortion acts that need to be seen to be believed. New Zealand’s leading female magician, Felicity Rogers, weaves magic, puppetry, dance and theatre into her mesmerising original performances. Felicity will also turn the traditional gender roles in ‘magic’ upside down by sawing a man in half! Kids look out for Felicity’s son 11-year-old Leonardo who will present his very own illusion.
A theatre spectacular for all ages from preschoolers to grandparents and everyone in between.
The Hamilton Community Gospel Choir is a choir with heart, and is a wonderfully varied group from the Waikato Region who like to entertain and inspire our community with a contemporary range of music, mainly in the gospel style.
This September the concert will be full of fun, meaning and foot tapping melodies to brighten your Waikato winter, with a great variety of songs for all tastes. Songs will once again range from the following artists, amongst others: Mississippi Mass Choir, Chicago Mass Choir, Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Faith Hill, Natalie Grant, Tauren Wells, CeCe Winans, Tori Kelly and the Waikato’s very own Te Rautini.
The choir has a great line up of soloists including Yolande Jooste, Debbie Shepherd, Christina Mellar and Sheena Smith, each bringing their unique style and sound.
We look forward to seeing you there, and leading you on a journey through our ‘You Will Be Found’ concert.
Join us for a day filled with colorful performances, authentic African cuisine, stunning artwork, vibrant music, performances and more.
Celebrate with us and experience the diverse beauty of Africa right here in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Entry to the event is free!
Experience one of the world's premier celebrations of Fleetwood Mac with Seventh Wonder. This electrifying show brings the full "Rumours" album to life, featuring classics like "Go Your Own Way," "Dreams," and "Don't Stop." This All - Star band mesmerizes with Fleetwood Mac's greatest hits including "Little Lies," "Gypsy," and "Say You Love Me."
As one of the most influential bands in rock history, Fleetwood Mac's legacy spans over 100 million records sold worldwide, with their 1977 masterpiece "Rumours" achieving over 45 million copies sold. Bloom's dedication and exquisite vocal talent ensure an unforgettable evening, honoring Fleetwood Mac's iconic sound and emotional depth.
Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to witness the magic of Fleetwood Mac's timeless music brought to life by one of Australia's most applauded vocal talents " Bloom", and her incredible band, featuring musicians from Jon English band, The Angels and more.
Described as "Sonically Perfect" and "As Good As It Gets", No other show comes close.
Enjoy an exciting evening of Pacific dance, singing and storytelling from the Students of Talents of the Pacific Academy – TOPA’s Enhancement and Development Classes.
You don’t want to miss this!
Don’t miss this 11 Piece Powerhouse band featuring internationally acclaimed artists who faithfully recreate the dynamic live performances of: The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Martha and The Vandellas, The Four Tops, The Jackson Five, and many more MOTOWN Legends.
This amazing and uplifting show presents classic hits including: Reach Out, Stop In The Name Of Love, Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, Heatwave, Get Ready, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Dancing in The Streets, Uptight, Signed Sealed Delivered, You Can’t Hurry Love, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Standing On Shakey Ground, My Girl , Can You Feel It and many more.
The dynamic "all-singing all-dancing" band has performed at many sold out shows Internationally!
Watch the show videos and listen to the Live Recorded Album on the website:
www.dancingintheshadowsofmotown.com
Check out the YouTube Video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZYL9NeZYRE
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