Until Sun 19 Jul · Tongariro South Domain

The Taupō Winter Festival’s free interactive light hub glows through the final week of the festival — a favourite evening outing for families.

Until Sun 19 Jul · Taupō Winter Festival

Ice skating sessions and the ever-popular ice slide run daily through the last week of the Winter Festival.

Mon 13–Sun 19 Jul · The Cave Taupō

Virtual reality experiences, racing simulators and gaming PCs run daily from 10am through the school holidays, with sessions for ages 8 and up.

Tue 14–Sat 18 Jul · Skatescool Taupō

Frozen dress-up roller discos with disco lights, fog machine and limbo competitions — entry $12, skate hire available, no booking needed.

All school holidays · Taupō town centre

A free treasure hunt and colouring competition running through the town centre as part of the Winter Festival programme.

Tue 14 Jul · Warehouse Stationery

A free workshop for kids aged 5–12 to decorate their own terracotta pot with POSCA paint markers — bookings essential.

Wed 15 Jul · Warehouse Stationery

Kids design and decorate their own keepsake box in this free school-holiday workshop session.

Thu 16 Jul · Warehouse Stationery

A free creative craft session for children, the last in this week’s school-holiday workshop series.

Thu 16 Jul · St Andrews Church

A candlelight concert featuring the Taupō Choral Society, Taupō Strings orchestra and cellist Peter Fleischl, marking 40 years of Lake Taupō Hospice — tickets $10.

Sun 19 Jul · Two Mile Bay Sailing Club

A free Sunday session from 3pm to 9pm with the region’s best musicians jamming into the winter sunset to close out the festival.

Until Mon 3 Aug · Taupō Museum

A free contemporary art exhibition at Taupō Museum marking the Matariki season.

Wed 15 Jul · 5 Mile Distillery

An evening of hand stitching a small take-home project with all materials, a 5 Mile gin on arrival and nibbles included — tickets $45, bookings essential.

Until Sun 19 Jul · Venues across Taupō

The 11th annual Malcolm Flowers Insurances Taupō Winter Festival wraps up its two-week celebration of arts, culture and community this Sunday.

Wed 22 Jul · Taupō

A guided painting evening on a Matariki stars theme, paired with a glass of wine.

Sat 25 Jul · Taupō

A community market and garden exchange where locals swap produce, plants and homemade goods.

Wed 29 Jul · Taupō

A social speed-dating evening over small plates for the 42–52 age group.

Thu 30 Jul · Taupō

A music-bingo night mixing live-DJ soundtracks with classic bingo gameplay.

Sat 1 Aug · Taupō

Taupō’s annual winter running event returns with a range of distances around the lake.

Sat 1 Aug · Taupō

A night of stand-up comedy to kick off August in Taupō.