Mark your calendars now for Whānau Fun on the Waterfront – where fun awaits kids and the young at heart as we celebrate the opening of the much-anticipated new waterfront playground.

Come along on Saturday, 14 December for some free family fun at the city centre waterfront. Organised by Tauranga City Council, there will be plenty of activities for the kids, including facepainting, colouring stations, and places to write letters to Santa (who is dropping by to say hello!) Gather the whānau and enjoy a free sausage sizzle plus ice creams for the kids to keep them fuelled and ready to explore. 

The highlight of the day will be the much-anticipated opening of the new waterfront playground which boasts an impressive 8-metre-tall waka tower structure. There are four different playground zones to discover: a nature trail zone for climbing and balancing; the elevated pathway etched with the Milky Way and Matariki stars; a water play zone with troughs and water pumps; and likely to be a crowd favourite, the waka tower.

Some members of the Whai Basketball team, including 2024 men's team captain Jayden Bezzant, will be joining the action at the basketball half-court with fun challenges, a bit of friendly competition and the opportunity to have photo's with the players. 10 free season passes to Whai home games in 2025 will also be given away on the day.

Event timing
What: Whānau Fun on the Waterfront 
Where: Tauranga city centre waterfront 
When: Saturday, 14 December, 10.00am to 12noon 

Parking 
Coming to join the fun? You will find plenty of free weekend parking options in the city centre: 

• The Dive Crescent car park is close-by and you can walk along the shared pathway in the Northern Waterfront Reserve. 
• There are plenty of car parks in the Spring Street parking building and you can take a five to ten minute walk through the freshly ‘zhuzhed’ Red Square or recently opened Masonic Park.