June 24 2022 was a public holiday here in New Zealand, a pretty significant one at that. We call that weekend the Matariki weekend. I made a post on what Matariki is and why it’s a big deal.
I had invited my “new” friend, Felix, over to celebrate the occasion. Together, we attended the TSB Festival of Lights: Winter Pop-up in New Plymouth.
This is the first time ever that the light festival is happening in Winter. Normally, TSB Festival of Lights is a 44 days and nights of summer entertainment and light. It begins mid-December through to the end of January.
However, last year’s event didn’t hold due to COVID-19. Not surprising at all, It’s the perks of the unprecedented times we live in. 2021 was very unpredictable. My thinking is that the event organizers saw an opportunity to kill two birds with a stone.
One: to celebrate Matariki or Puanga, as it is called in Taranaki. Two: to hold the event, since they couldn’t in summer 2021, and tease people of what to expect come summer 2023.
I know you’d love to see what the event looked like and trust me, I gatchu!!!
The full video of the 2022 TSB Festival of Lights can be found here. Drop a comment when you see it and don’t forget to like.
For the remainder of my long weekend, I spent it with Felix.
About this my “new” friend Felix. He isn’t a new friend per se hence, the invented commas. We’d connected on Facebook but didn’t really have any meaningful conversation.
Not until last year, I saw him here in Palmy when a mutual friend of ours moved down to the region. That will be the second time I’ve seen him and the first time we had a proper conversation although it was mainly about cryptocurrency.
Anyho!!
When he arrived on Thursday, the 23rd, we hung out with friends and friend’s friends. Out of which, two were also attending the FOL. Then next day, drove 3 hours to New Plymouth, stayed at this Airbnb that had a white retriever, Eva. Then drove back the next day. We had a good time, more of chilling than grooving.
Back in Palmy, the weather wasn’t so great but we managed to do some activities. We visited the Esplanade and took the Victoria Esplanade scenic train. Then, we walked the steps of Lindo, fed our eyes on the new development in Summerhill and rested at home.
How do you spend public holidays?
