Live entertainment comes in many different forms and in Auckland there are some interesting ways of getting entertained in a live setting you might not yet be aware of. The following are some options for enjoying Auckland that you might not have seen before.

“Auckland Art Gallery” (CC BY 2.0) by atlai

Outdoor Art Trails

The chance to explore the city while discovering new pieces of art is the idea behind the public art trails listed on the Our Auckland site. The likes of Nobody Here But Us by Richard Deacon and The Sound of Rain by John Radford are mentioned among the most interesting objects in and around the city you might like to check out while you’re walking around and getting to know Auckland better.

A large number of diverse sculptures and installations across Auckland make it easy for visitors and residents to discover new parts of the city while enjoying thought-provoking pieces of art. Among the recent exhibitions opened in the city, Taimoana | Coastlines: Art in Aotearoa opened in the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in April.

Another worthwhile visit takes visitors to the Auckland Art Gallery to see The Robertson Gift: Paths through Modernity. Gifted by the late Julian Robertson, this 15-piece art collection includes work by Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, and has been valued at $190 million in the recent past. Finding a route that takes you past some of these works of art and galleries makes a satisfying way of seeing Auckland by turning it into a live art experience.

Live Casino Games

We need to go back to the 1840s to find the first records of organised gambling here, with the earliest horse race taking place at Epsom, Auckland. In the 1980s, the introduction of Lotto gave the nation a new pastime that appealed to millions of players. The arrival of online casino games has now given locals the chance to gamble online conveniently, but it’s the presence of live games that has really moved the industry in a new direction. This look at real-money online casinos in New Zealand such as Barz and Lucky Days points out that live casinos provide a more authentic experience. These games include variants of roulette and blackjack, where a human dealer carries out the task of spinning the wheel or dealing the cards. The rules are generally similar to the classic games but some developers use the latest technology to introduce changes such as special rounds where multipliers are randomly applied to certain numbers.

This way of playing has also created a new genre known as live game shows. These games are played with a variety of props such as a wheel of fortune or dice. While they’re based on a random outcome like classic casino games, the emphasis is on entertainment, with bonus rounds and a live-streamed human presenter who has the job of keeping the action flowing.

Outdoor Cinema and Music in Parks

Summer is the best time of year for catching a movie or a music concert outdoors. The Movies in Parks and Music in Parks events provide terrific opportunities to see free entertainment in a lively outdoor setting where no ticket or prior booking is needed.

The movie season will start again in December 2024, while at the time of writing the last musical event was at Victoria Park on 30 March, so it’s not clear if we can expect more shows like this before the start of next summer.

Even when no events are planned, places such as Long Bay Regional Park and Cornwall Park are among the top spots in Auckland for enjoying a picnic and chatting with locals. Other parks including Awhitu Regional Park and Whatipu Scientific Reserve in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park are more about hiking, looking for wildlife, and getting close to nature. The Rotary Walkway in Pakuranga is a popular 9km walk with good access to facilities.

 

Food Shows

Food has traditionally been an important part of the New Zealand culture, with the hāngī earth oven one of the classic ways of preparing food that is still popular when meals are being prepared for large groups. The mixing of Māori methods and recipes with European influences has given the country a unique cuisine that is celebrated in food shows throughout the year.

The Auckland Food Show is NZ’s biggest annual culinary event and will be held at the Auckland Showgrounds between 25 and 28 July this year. The event’s official site has eye-catching recipes such as oyster mushroom fritters, noumea prawn salad, and danablu salad.

All of these live entertainment options let us see how easy it is to enjoy different ways of getting to know the city and its culture in an interactive way that brings its history to life for us.