Art and Street Festival set for Waihī

The organisers of the upcoming Waihī Art and Street Festival hope the event will be a “good family outing” for Auckland Anniversary weekend.
The free event, which will take place on January 28 and 29 from 9am to 3pm, will feature art and craft market stalls, community stalls, raffles, children’s activities, dancers and buskers on Seddon St.
An art exhibition by Studio Art Waihī and local schools and preschools will also be open at Waihī Arts Centre & Museum.
Organiser Thea Ris told The Profile the event, which was first held in 2021, was a “big success”.
“We had about 80 volunteers who helped and a big part of it came from the Lions, so it’s now a big Waihī Lions project,” she said.
“This year is actually bigger again because everyone wants to have a stall and everyone wants to take part, and so we’re going to block off the road as well.”
“OceanaGold, HDC [Hauraki District Council], James Searle Say Foundation and lots of local businesses have donated money, so in effect we the committee have raised all the costs required to run this festival with the help of Lions.”
Thea said Creative Communities and Trust Waikato also donated funds for the festival.
Organiser Jose Jebb said live entertainment would include local and non-local acts.
“We have A Friends Place from Waihī Beach, which is for people over 65 who play music; and we have the Paeroa Rock and Rollers on stage for half an hour,” she said.
“We’re going to have masses of street entertainment including the Kra KoTo Kra drummers [from Whangārei] and then the Afriky dancers [from Waiheke Island], and the Dixie and Concert Band from Katikati.
“The Concert Band and Dixie Band… do an interactive concert where people can drum and dance,” she said.
Jose said Seven Sharp reporter and comedian Ben Hurley and Hauraki District Mayor Toby Adams will open the festival on January 28 with a bagpipe performance by Art Johnston from Waikino.