Aotea Square — Attraction in Waitematā

Aotea Square (in Te Reo Māori, “pokapū tāone”—inner city public square).  • Location: 291-297 Queen Street, Auckland CBD, adjacent to the Auckland Town Hall and the Aotea Centre.  • It’s a large outdoor paved square (~4,500 m²) right in the heart of the city, used heavily for events, festivals, performances, public gatherings. 

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History & Significance • Opened in 1979.  • The square is built over what used to be a swamp and parts of the Waihorotiu Stream; the area was drained and developed.  • It underwent a major redevelopment completed in 2010 to strengthen the underlying parking structure, upgrade its layout, better accommodate large crowds (up to ~20,000 people). 

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What’s Around It / What’s Nearby • Auckland Town Hall (Edwardian style) sits at the Queen Street end.  • Aotea Centre (for concerts, events, theatre) is on the western side of the square.  • The Civic Theatre / IMAX / other theatres are nearby.  • Myers Park is to the south side from parts of the square. 

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What You Can Do There • Attend public events: festivals (Arts Festival, Diwali, Pasifika, Pride, etc.), concerts, markets.  • Relaxing: there are terraces, grassed areas, seating, trees to provide some shade.  • Dining & cafés: there’s Container in the Square Cafe, The Terrace Cafe (in the Aotea Centre) and food trucks pop up during events.  • Art & public installations: the Waharoa arch/gateway at Queen Street entrance is notable.  • Seasonal features: e.g., ice rink in winter, performances on the...

Diwali Festival at Aotea Square

My husband and I attended Diwali Festival on 4/11/2023. We enjoyed their great performance like dancing and the great speech by our Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

There were lots of food stalls along the street. My husband loved Samosa and vegetarian flour balls. For me, I liked Indian Turmeric Rice with potatoes.

Lots of people were there but we still enjoyed our time there.

We will definitely attend Diwali Festival again this year and we highly recommend you to join the upcoming Festival this year.

On another occasion, we attended Lunar New Year celebrations at Aotea Square yesterday, 25/2/2024.

There were a number of events happening, such las Karaoke Competition, Mahjong Playing, Street Dance Competitions etc.

We enjoyed mahjong games with a couple from Canada there.

At the meantime, there was a Rainbow Parade at Queen Street yesterday afternoon.

We highly recommend you to get there and enjoy Lunar New Year at...

Aotea Square is very close to civic parking , which provides easy access to the stairs or elevator ( good for anyone with mobility issues).

There are also many cafes and restaurants. Close proximity to the cinemas and a 5 Minute walk to K Road and a 10 minute walk to the viaduct.

I attended the square around winter. The trees were quite beautiful in color, and the Civic Hall buildings are good for taking interesting photographs.

Facilities; Inside the cinema there are a number of toilets. However, for those who have mobility issues, I found the stairs going down to the toilets quite challenging.

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