Mangawhai Benefit Concert

Please note: To book for this concert, please contact Yatra Southward: yatrabe@gmail.com / 0212377678

The Absurdistan Hall in Kaiwaka, Northland, will open its doors on the afternoon of Saturday 1st April for a special, one-off concert performed by composer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Flynn and the New Zealand String Quartet, with proceeds from ticket sales supporting Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust.

The Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust is the governance body for local volunteers who meet weekly to create and maintain walking tracks in and around Mangawhai for the enjoyment of the public. One of the most recent significant projects was a boardwalk through the mangroves at Back Bay in the Mangawhai estuary, enabling people to bypass the busy Molesworth Drive, the main road through Mangawhai. This involved around 4,300 hours of volunteer labour and $130K of materials. It was opened in August 2021 and over 14,000 trips were recorded in the first 8 months. Unfortunately, recent extreme weather events significantly damaged the boardwalk, and the Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust is now working to repair and reinstate the track.

Absurdistan Community representative, Yatra Southward, says "Outdoor activity is important and so much a part of people's lives in Aotearoa. In our local area there are many beautiful tracks which have been damaged by cyclone Gabrielle and more recent flooding. Music and the kindness of donation, will assist with the rebuilding of the Back Bay Boardwalk, the reopening of other tracks in the area, and help restore our sense of togetherness.”

Dave Flynn, a long-time friend and collaborator of the New Zealand String Quartet is a resident of Mangawhai Heads. Flynn and NZ String Quartet – all avid walkers in their spare time - will be performing their latest collaboration together, a concert titled Irish Airs & Graces, at Unitarian Church in Auckland the day before on Friday 31st March. They will use this opportunity to travel north to Absurdistan Hall in Kaiwaka to perform excerpts of this concert on Saturday 1st April.

All proceeds from the benefit concert will go towards Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust.

Tickets for the concert will be available by koha on the door. For those further afield who cannot attend the concert but still wish to support this cause, donations can be made to the following A/C:

Mangawhai Tracks Charitable Trust

ASB 12-3094-0210087-01

For further details about attending the concert, contact Yatra Southward: yatrabe@gmail.com / 0212377678