A slightly obvious plug here as Indigo is my daughter, but I am all for promoting live music in Picton, so here goes – on Friday the 9th September at 8pm for the small sum of $5 Indigo Greenlaw will be singing, along with Blair Gibsone, freshly back from Aspen Colorado on lead guitar.  Should be a great night, so beat the winter blues and pop down to your favourite music venue, Le Cafe – awesome food and ambience.

Indigo is heading off to Europe again, so this might be the last chance to hear her for a wee while. <3

Tika

Spread the word, share this on facebook.

It being a particularly beautiful sun filled winter’s day today, it seems natural to want to spread the word about the glories of Picton.

In case you were wondering what’s happening for Spring Fest here’s a few items for your diary, gleaned from the Love Marlborough website.

Picton Spring Fest is a free, two-day 17/18 September 2011 event featuring Marlborough wine and seafood, hospitality and family activities with entertainment planned to appeal to a wide variety of tastes.

The event will have a main stage with performances from several bands each day, multi cultural entertainment, dancing and other performances and a finale jazz soiree complete with an ice bar. There will also be children’s activities and competitions, along with stall holders offering food/refreshments, arts and crafts, cooking demos, and a strong involvement from the Waikawa Marae. A hive of activity on the foreshore!

It will all get a little groovy on Sunday 18th when the Jazz Soiree begins, headlined by LA Mitchell who with her powerful voice has opened for the likes of Stevie Wonder, Dave Dobbyn and Guy Sebastien. The event will be undercover with a main stage profiling some fantastic Kiwi Bands, multi cultural entertainment, dancing, cooking demos with Celebrity Chefs and a finale Jazz Soiree on the Sunday evening. National performers announced so far are Special Guest Artist Dukes and LA Mitchell .

hese fantastic bands will be supported by some great local acts including Clara Vanwel – the winner of this year’s Marlborough Smoke Free Rockquest who is going through to the National Finals to represent Marlborough.

These bands – along with the other great entertainment planned for the Festival will provide something for everyone!

There will also be children’s activities and competitions, along with The Sample Marlborough Marquees – including wine, seafood, strawberries, honey, oil and other local delights along with other events and activities available in the region. A real sample of Marlborough! There will also be a Festival Bar operated by locals for part of the festival.

All in all a hive of activity on the foreshore.

Event organisers Marlborough 4 Fun have a long and well known track record for providing professional, enjoyable events for the region and we are looking forward to showcasing the region with this fantastic two-day event.

PICTON SPRINGFEST

Saturday 17^th September

10.00am Kapa Haka Welcome

10.15am Schools performance (including Russian Anthem)

11.00am Chris Fortune Cooking Demo

12.00pm Clara Vanwel

Running of the Fish Competition

1.00pm Cooking Demo – TBC

2.00pm Rio Hemopo

3.00pm Cornerstone Roots

5.00pm Finish

PICTON SPRINGFEST

Sunday 18^th September

10.00am Café Cortado Cooking Demo

11.00am Highland Pipe Band

11.30pm Fish Filleting Demo – TBC

12.15pm Local Band

1.30pm Le Cafe Cooking Demo

2.00pm Dukes

3.00pm Figaro’s Cooking Demo

3.30pm Local Band TBC

4.00pm Chris Fortune Cooking Demo

JAZZ SOIREE

6.00pm MGC Jazz Band

6.30pm LA Mitchell

7.10pm MGC Jazz Band

8.00pm LA Mitchell

For further details please contact: Contact Email: katrina@marlborough4fun.co.nz Contact Phone: +64 3 577 8935

For other Cruise into Picton events, please check website

9 September to 24 October 2011

If you know of other events to promote, please let me know so we can help promote Picton and the beautiful Marlborough Sounds.

Tickets are available now from Le Cafe at $15 until the 4th May, when they will be $18, so book your tickets now . Reserve your table now 03 573 5588 and enjoy a wonderful evening.

Browse through the previous post, or the singers’ websites for more info.

www.annacoddington.com

and www.facebook/juliadeans

The wind is howling outside, the fan palm by our door is being battered and the draught is cold under the door, all the more reason for something to look forward to, a night out.

On Friday 6th May 2011 at Le Cafe in Picton come and hear two awesome lasses of the New Zealand music scene, Anna Coddington & Julia Deans. They have both played previously at Le Cafe, but this time double the value as they are touring together  “Keepsakes Tour”, which promises to be one of the most enchanting tours of the year.

Julia Deans is surely the possessor of one of modern rocks most interesting voices; able to shift elegantly between soaring falsetto and assured growl. Known primarily as the charismatic front-woman of Fur Patrol, Julia released her debut solo album ‘Modern Fables’ in 2010 to critical acclaim. As well as being a world -class vocal talent, Deans has proven herself as a prolific songwriter, having being recently nominated for both the prestigious Silver Scroll Award and The Taite Music Prize.

Anna Coddington is one of New Zealand’s foremost heroines of independent pop music, as is evident on her debut solo album ‘The Lake’ (one of my favourite albums ever) and new sophomore release ‘Cat & Bird’.  Anna has been quietly kicking around New Zealand’s music scene for some time, fronting casually released pop gems by her former bands Handsome Geoffrey and Duchess and performing with musical collective Fly My Pretties.

Don’t miss two of the finest gems New Zealand music has to offer when Anna Coddington and Julia Deans come to Picton, Marlborough  for The Keepsakes Tour.

Book your table at Le Cafe 03 573 5588 and buy your tickets now – they will run out! You can buy them from Le Cafe right now.

Sorry for the silence our home has been filled with a series of travellers/family/couch surfers and I am only just surfacing, what can I say it has been exhausting but such good fun, but to cut to it…. music. On Friday 25th February Pacific Curls are to returning to play live at Le Cafe on London Quay overlooking the wonderful Marlborough Sounds. They have been touring in Canada. Their beautiful vocals with lyrics in Te Reo Maori, Rotuman and English and their unique combination of Scottish fiddle, Taonga Puoro, ukulele, cajon, guitar, klimba and percussion have captivated audiences wherever they have gone.

With its World-ribbed sounds, precise arrangements and a catalogue of songs that link the Pacific’s primal myths to Scotland’s mysticism, Pacific Curls – one Rotuman one Maori and a Scots – make music that is both worldly and enthralling, so come along to Le Cafe and see for yourselves. You know the deal, phone 03 573 5588 to book a table. Pacific Curls are on around 8pm I think, but do check with Peter or the front of house staff.

For now,

Tika

I hope you are all lapping up the sunshine, wide blue skies and finding some joy in your day. The months are flying by, blink and you miss them, December tomorrow – where did the year go?

Planetary shifts afoot, so whilst the planet is shifting its axis and things are changing, what better way to enjoy life than cruising to Le Cafe on Picton’s foreshore for another wonderful musical offering, this time Matt Langley 2010 Apra Award Winner supported by Caitlin Harnett on the Featherbone Tour to release Matt’s new album, Featherbones. They will be playing at 8pm on Saturday 11th December 2010, and Stuart ‘O’ Connor will be playing on 14th December 8.30pm  $10 on the door, so do give Le Cafe a ring to book your table 03 573 5588. Le Cafe also have a new seasonal menu – well worth checking out.

Okay have fun,

Tika x

We are back to the delights of Picton after our awesome roadtrip. Good to be home though and the new foreshore development is looking great with fewer fences and getting nearer to completion, it’ll be great to walk through from home to Le Cafe along the new funky wooden pathways through new trees.

So Thursday night 21st October 2010 starting at 7pm for $15 a musical marathon is on offer at Le Cafe, so come on down and enjoy. Boogie and Blues, Alt Country and Mojo Mama-Bullfrog Rata-Laura Collins-Beyondsemble will be playing. Book a table on 03 573 5588 and make sure you are close to the action.

Another night for your diaries on the 27th October Extreme Entertainment from Australia Coolgrass the fun way! $10 on the door.

Check out more events on our events page

Okay the courgette plants are crying out to be transplanted and the soup needs stirring……..

See you there…

Tika

A wonderfully inspiring event is to take place on 6th August at 5.30pm at the Taylor River, Blenheim (amphitheatre steps at the end of High Street) to promote peace and commemorate Hiroshima Day. There will be candle floating singing and a few short speeches highlighting the significance of the occasion. It will be magical if the community gets behind this initiative.

If you feel inspired please bring along a lantern or candle and enjoy

Floating Candle Lantern Instructions

MATERIALS (measurements are approximate):

2 strips wood – L 130cm x W 3.5cm x .5-1cm

2 pieces of wire (smaller than #8) – 80cm each

1 thin wire (e.g. florist’s) – 18cm

2 screws – 1.5cm (minimum)

1 nail – 2.5 cm

2 polystyrene strips – L 20cm x W 3.5cm

glue

candle stub

roll of lunch paper -

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION:

1) Drill holes through each end of both pieces of wood

2) Nail through the centre of 1 piece of wood to create a candle holding spike on top

3) Screw both pieces of wood together near the centre nail to form a cross shape

4) Glue polystyrene strips to the bottom of the top piece of wood, both side of the centre

5) Put long wires through holes at each end of the wood pieces, crossing over each other in

the centre. Twist the bits of wire sticking out the bottom with pliers to secure

6) Make a loop with the small thinner wire and twist the bottom of the loop around the big

wires where they cross at centre – securing all wires together and creating a hanging loop

7) Fix the short candle on the nail

Fold lunch paper to approx 20cm wide (approx L 88cm).

9) Placing the double thickness at the bottom of the lantern frame, wrap the lunch paper

around the frame until it overlaps. Trim and glue.

Picton is definitely the place to be this weekend. Food,  Wine & Music – good company, all of the best. tika

Their fastpaced shows are truly diverse and being visual, cross the language barrier with ease. The shows range from craziness of comedy to the subtlety of mime, the strength of acrobatics to the dynamism of dance and the novelty of lifesized puppets.

Check out

Click here to view the embedded video.