Fifteen years ago, when we moved to Featherston from Wellington, one of the only things we missed was the Wellington Sunday Harbourside Market. To our and many in the community’s delight, in 2015 Long from Levin started coming to Featherston…
Locals of all ages rolled up their sleeves in the FreshChoice carpark for Featherston’s Accelerator Weekend for the mural festival, helping bring a giant community mural to life, paint-by-numbers style. The event kicked off on Thursday 23 July with students…
As the star cluster of Matariki rises in the northeast sky our small town is making plans to gather once again to celebrate, connect, reflect and commemorate. The public holiday for Matariki this year will be Friday 10th July, and…
Kia ora booklovers! Around 10,000 booklovers descended on Featherston for the 11th Karukatea Festival, officially the biggest and most successful in the event’s history. Across 47 events and 75 presenters, the Festival drew record crowds, building on the momentum of…
This issue of new Phoenix is devoted to acknowledging ANZAC Day. Featherston and the wider Wairarapa has a unique association with the ANZAC memory. Not only was the WWI Featherston Camp the leaving point for 60,000 New Zealanders to serving…
Featherston Booktown unveiled the programme for its 11th annual Karukatea Festival at Anzac Hall on Friday, 13 March. After a welcoming karakia by Liz Mellish and an introduction from Chair Peter Biggs, Festival Director Jordan Hamel revealed the lineup of…
Our gym has officially opened the doors to its new premises at 74 Fox Street, Featherston, marking a major milestone for the gym after nine years of steady growth. What began as a small community initiative has developed into a…
The countdown is on! From Friday 7 to Sunday 9 November, Featherston Paetūmōkai will come alive with stories, experiences, food and history for the first-ever Featherston Heritage Festival. Whether you’re a bookworm, a walker or a lover of good food,…
Featherston is about to make history – by celebrating it! From 7 to 9 November, our town will host the very first FeatherstonHeritage Festival, a new annual event dedicated to the stories, places and people that make Featherston Paetūmōkai unique.The…
Our trustees have appointed acclaimed Aotearoa New Zealand writer, teacher and performer, Jordan Hamel, to the role of director: Featherston Booktown. The director position is an expansion of the current operations manager role currently held by Mary Biggs who will…
Kia ora Paetūmōkai, apologies that our autumn and winter guides have been a bit late, we will start fresh with your spring guide coming in the September issue. If you caught it, our autumn guide talked about the soil ‘going…
Ngā mihi nui ki a koe – Paetūmokai once again comes together to celebrate the rising of Matariki.Our celebrations and commemorations for Matariki 2025 began with a dawn ceremony, where about 70 people gathered towelcome Matariki rising. Eight wonderful volunteers…
A wee sip of sparkly and chocs for the ladies (with coffee and cake for the guys) proved to be an appropriate and popular starting point at Vinni’s in Boundary Road before the ‘Wai-Wheels’ annual Mother’s Day cruise out to…
A Booktown is a small rural town or village, close to major cities, in which second-hand and antiquarian bookshops areconcentrated. Most Booktowns have developed in villages of historic interest or of scenic beauty. Their residents set up eventsaround books –…
It took a few days to find the words to describe our gratitude and excitement after our first Pride Festival. We thought we might have 100 or so people parading through our streets in flamboyant spectacle, and we actually don’t…
The Merit Badge is awarded to those members of the RSA who have rendered ten or more years of outstanding honorary service to the RSA for the benefit of RSA personnel and the wider community. A Royal New Zealand Returned…
A group of thriving Filipino migrants in the South Wairarapa area yearn to share their own cultures, traditions and values, to their host community in this part of Aotearoa. The Christmas season, being the most joyful, annual celebration in Christian…
The Spark Business Hub Wairarapa Awards is THE opportunity for local businesses and organisations, whether they are a start-up or have a long history, to share their stories, celebrate their success and gain recognition for their brand, team and stakeholders.…
What a night we had at Lady Featherston’s Lemon Ball on the 19th of October! This author must give congratulations to all involved on your Sold Out event! Lady Featherston herself was revealed as Heather March, former proprietor of the…
The St. Teresa’s School Spring Gala 2024 held in September, was a fantastic event bringing the community together for delicious food, fun and lots of great activities and stalls. Given the forecast looked rather dicey, just in time for the…
