Fifty-seven Hamilton food businesses received Excellence Awards during the 2008 Hamilton Food Safety Awards this morning. It is the 14th year that Hamilton City Council has held the Food Safety Awards, which aim to recognise and reward businesses that maintain a standard of excellence in their premises above that required by legislation. The awards were originally launched in 1994 as a way of re... more...

Midweek is delicious in the City Heart. From today (30 October) the Hamilton Farmers' Market is now open 3-6.30pm Thursdays at a fantastic new Civic Square location. Since 2006 the Hamilton Farmers' Market has run Sundays from its Anglesea Street base, doubling the number of stalls over the past two years. Over the last couple of months Hamilton City Council has worked closely with the Hamilton F... more...

The first of three public information meetings regarding the proposed Hamilton Urban Growth Strategy is to take place tomorrow evening. The three separate meetings to be held in North, Central and South of Hamilton and are taking place to give the community the opportunity to explore in depth the themes and recommendations outlined in the proposed strategy. Meeting schedule: NORTH Wednesday 2... more...

Hamilton Zoo is delighted at the recovery of two Madagascan day geckos that were stolen from the facility last Friday night [17 October]. Thieves cut through three sets of chained and padlocked doors to gain access to the Zoo's reptile house, before removing the Madagascan day geckos, along with a pair of bearded dragons. The Madagascan day geckos were recovered after a member of the public, who... more...

If you go down to Elliott Park this Halloween, you are sure for a big surprise – with thousands of people expected to turn out there for Treats in the Park on Friday, 31 October from 3.15pm-8.15pm. The inaugural Treats in the Park event was held seven years ago as a way of providing young trick-or-treaters with a safe, controlled environment in which to celebrate Halloween, and has continued to g... more...

Award-winning New Zealand author Dame Fiona Kidman will be holding a public talk at Hamilton Central Library next Thursday [30 October] at 12.30pm. A prolific author of novels, short stories, poems and plays, Fiona Kidman is highly regarded as one of New Zealand's top writers. Her latest book, At The End of Darwin Road: a Memoir, was published earlier this year and has received rave reviews due ... more...

The Hamilton Zoo reptile house was broken into last Friday night [17 October] at some stage between 5.30pm and 8am the following morning. Thieves cut through three sets of chained and padlocked doors to gain access and removed a pair of bearded dragons and a pair of Madagascan day geckos. MAF were immediately advised as the Madagascan day geckos are listed on the MAFBNZ containment list for Zo... more...

Hamilton City Libraries' world language collection is about to receive a boost thanks to the generosity of the city's international students. More than 40 international language books will be donated to the world language collection during a ceremony at Central Library next Tuesday [21 October] at 4pm. The donations are the result of a campaign run by Hamilton City Libraries, Waikato Education ... more...

Taking the stage Friday night at the Clarence Street Theatre, Elemeno P frontman Dave Gibson said that for him nights like the Hamilton youth awards was what it was all about. 33 exceptional young people were up for awards for everything from community involvement to innovative ideas, music, culture, arts and overcoming adversity. Gibson kept his promise, at the close of the night the band invitin... more...

It will be a celebration of Hamilton youth at its best tonight during Recognyz 08, the Hamilton Youth Awards. Held at Clarence Street Theatre, the Awards will be headlined by chart toppers and home-grown favourites Elemeno P, and include performances by talented Rockquest finalists Jimmy and The Evergreens and a set from hip hop dance world champions Fusion. Elemeno P frontman Dave Gibson says ... more...

Dame Cheryll Sotheran DNZM has been named as Chair of the Board of the country’s first dedicated creative industries business incubator, SODA Inc. SODA Inc. aims to encourage and enable economically successful businesses within the creative industries sector to thrive in Hamilton. This New Zealand first initiative has been established to encourage growth in the local economy by retaining, attra... more...

Wintec and Hamilton City Council yesterday jointly announced the official establishment of SODA Inc., the city’s new creative industries business incubator that’s aimed at encouraging and enabling economically successful businesses within the creative industries sector to thrive in Hamilton. The name SODA Inc. reflects both its location at the historic Innes soft drink bottling factory at The Me... more...

Young art collectors will have the opportunity to view and purchase affordable art works during the popular Muka Youth Print Exhibition at the Waikato Museum this weekend [11-12 October]. Each year Muka Studio tours a new collection of 40 original prints by leading artists worldwide to more than 30 venues around New Zealand, with the aim of introducing young people to art. While the cost of art ... more...

An exhibition that celebrates 150 years of the Kingitanga movement in the Waikato opens at Waikato Museum this Saturday [4 October]. 'Te Puna Kai: Visual tales along the Poukai trail' is a photographic exhibition by Museum photographer Beau Morgan that captures key moments at Poukai marae throughout the region. Te Kingitanga, the Maori King movement, started in the 1850s in response to increasi... more...

Preparation for another stage of the CityHeart revitalisation is about to get underway with the traffic calming trial on Victoria Street. The purpose of the trial is to assess options that will achieve a safer environment for pedestrians and to encourage traffic that is simply passing though, to take alternative routes. The trial period will run for three months (October to December) and includes... more...