Events & What’s Happening
Public holiday celebrations marking the Māori New Year across Christchurch, with free events at the Canterbury Museum, Te Pae, and community gatherings featuring storytelling, kai, and wānanga.
💡The free family programmes at Canterbury Museum and the Botanic Gardens are ideal for children to learn about Māori star lore and traditions.
Biennial festival (held in odd-numbered years) showcasing theatre, dance, music, and visual arts from New Zealand and international artists across city venues.
💡Check the programme for dedicated family shows and free outdoor performances that suit younger audiences.
New Zealand's premier garden and flower show held at Hagley Park, featuring spectacular display gardens, floral art, and horticultural exhibits.
💡Kids enjoy the sensory garden areas; arrive early on weekdays to avoid weekend crowds and secure parking near Hagley Park.
Week-long celebration combining the Canterbury A&P Show at Riccarton Racecourse with horse racing, livestock displays, carnival rides, and food stalls.
💡The A&P Show day is brilliant for kids — farm animals, wood chopping competitions, and a large fairground keep all ages entertained.
Free outdoor concert held in Hagley Park featuring popular New Zealand artists, Christmas carols, and a festive atmosphere drawing tens of thousands of attendees.
💡Bring a picnic blanket, arrive two hours early to secure a good spot on the grass, and pack layers as evenings in Hagley Park can be cool.
International street performers take over the city centre with juggling, acrobatics, comedy, and music across multiple outdoor stages.
💡Most shows are free and kid-friendly; the Cathedral Square hub is the best starting point for families with young children.
Annual celebration of Canterbury's craft beer scene and local food producers held in the city, with tastings, live music, and food vendors.
💡Earlier sessions tend to be more family-friendly; there is usually a designated non-alcoholic area with food stalls suitable for children.
Christchurch's largest outdoor market held at Riccarton Racecourse, with over 300 stalls selling fresh produce, street food, clothing, crafts, and secondhand goods every Sunday year-round.
💡Arrive before 10am for the freshest produce and shorter queues at popular food stalls; the open grassy areas give young kids room to roam safely.
Free weekly storytime sessions for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers held at Tūranga, the central Christchurch library, featuring picture books, songs, and rhymes led by library staff.
💡Sessions fill up quickly; arrive 10 minutes early and check the Christchurch City Libraries website as themes and times can vary by school term.
Free, timed 5km community run and walk through the beautiful grounds of Hagley Park every Saturday morning, open to all ages and abilities including prams and junior runners.
💡Register once for free on the parkrun website and bring your barcode each week; the course is pram-friendly and there is a junior parkrun for children aged 4–14 on Sunday mornings.
Beloved weekly market in the heart of Lyttelton village offering organic produce, artisan bread, cheeses, street food, and handmade crafts from local Canterbury producers.
💡The compact village setting is easy to navigate with a pushchair; pair it with a walk along the Lyttelton waterfront for a great Saturday morning outing.
Planning Your Visit
Neighborhoods & Areas
Local Tips for Families
- 💡The Margaret Mahy Family Playground on Manchester Street is free and enormous — but the shaded toddler zone fills up completely by 10am on any sunny summer weekend. Arrive at 9am and you will have the space to yourselves for the first hour.
- 💡Whale Watch Kaikōura is a 3-hour drive north but worth the day trip — book the 7:15am departure from Kaikōura Wharf to maximise calm sea conditions, and note that under-3s ride free but cannot go on the vessel if conditions are coded 'choppy' on their website. Check the departure confirmation text the night before.
- 💡The Botanic Gardens glasshouses on Rolleston Avenue are free, open daily, and excellent on a rainy day — the Cunningham House tropical house is warm and smells extraordinary, and kids under 5 are fascinated by the carnivorous plant section inside the Townend House display.
- 💡The free City Loop bus (Route 1, bright red) runs every 10 minutes on weekdays and connects all central attractions including the Botanic Gardens, Arts Centre, Victoria Square, and the Bus Interchange — it saves significant walking with small children and is pushchair-accessible at every stop.
- 💡The Saturday Lyttelton Farmers' Market opens at 10am sharp and the best vendors (Fix and Fogg peanut butter stall, Barrys Bay cheese, and the sourdough baker from Little Biddy) sell out by 11:30am. Drive through the Lyttelton Tunnel (NZD $3 cashless toll each way) and arrive at 10am to get the full experience before it winds down.
- 💡Punting on the Avon departs from the Antigua Boat Sheds on Cambridge Terrace, which have operated since 1882 — the 30-minute guided punt is NZD $25/adult and children under 5 go free. The morning slot (before 11am) is calm and uncrowded; afternoon east-coast wind picks up and makes the punt less pleasant. The Boat Sheds also rent row boats by the hour.
- 💡The International Antarctic Centre on Orchard Road near the airport includes the Antarctic Storm Experience (a simulated blizzard room kids aged 5+ love) and live penguin viewing for the resident Little Blue Penguin colony — go on a weekday morning to avoid airport-transfer tour groups, which arrive mid-morning. Entry is approximately NZD $40/adult and $25/child.
- 💡Christchurch's Sunday Riverside Market on Oxford Terrace is different from the daily food hall upstairs — it runs 10am–2pm outdoors with local artisan goods, second-hand kids' books, and street performers. It is far less crowded than the weekday Riverside Market and has direct access to the Avon River edge where kids can watch eels and ducks from the low-railed platform.
- 💡If visiting in January, the World Buskers Festival runs across central Christchurch for 10 days — most shows are free or donation-based and clustered around Victoria Square and the Arts Centre on Worcester Boulevard. The late-afternoon 4pm slot at Victoria Square typically has the most child-appropriate acrobatic and comedy acts before the adult-oriented evening shows begin.