Summer Music Festival at Washbourn

Great news! After last year success, Waimea Youth Council is excited to announce that the Youth Music Festival is back this December, 3.

The Festival will feature the most talented young musicians of Nelson Tasman and will be a great spot to unwind after exams and celebrate the beginning of summer.

Wiz kid and the Biscuits at the last year Youth Music Festival

If you play in a youth band or performing solo, this may be an amazing opportunity for you to perform in a nice relaxing setting of Washbourn Gardens, there are still few spots left in the programme.
To reserve your space email us a link to your audio or video recording by October 3, 2021, Yulia.Panfylova@tasman.govt.nz.

More info about the Festival is coming.

Nelson Tasman Youth Hui

35 young people from around the region shared their thoughts on some of the big issues they face. It was a diverse group of young people from schools and youth groups.
Youth discussed the following topics:

• Alcohol and Other Drugs

• Mental Health and Wellbeing

• The Transition to Employment

• Youth-friendly Spaces and Places

• The Environment

• Transport Options

• Socialising and Friendships

  The full report with lots of valuable ideas is available via this link.

Youth Week 2021

Ara Taiohi Youth Week runs from 8 – 16 May 2021 and is about recognising the amazing contributions and achievements of young people in New Zealand. This year theme is We’re stronger together.
In partnership with Kōhine Maia, we are organizing a series of events to celebrate the talents, passion and successes of Tasman’s young people.
What can you expect?

• Skate & Paint at the Motueka skate park

• Escape room in the libraries

• Have a go events: yoga, fitness, boxing, hip hop.

• Mountain biking coaching on Rabbit Island

• Pop up library

• young musician performance

Do you have any other ideas? Get in touch events@tasman.govt.nz.

Girls skatepark take over free event

We have noticed that there is a lot of interest in skateboarding among girls. However not many are confident enough to start rolling the skate parks that are usually taken over by boys.

Kohine Maia project and Skate School Nelson has been providing support to young girls who wish to develop their skateboarding skills. Tasman District Council has partnered with these two groups to organise a fun event for girls at Richmond Skate Park, on Friday, March 12.
All girls (young and not so young) are invited to come and practice their skills in a safe setting. It will be a relaxing afternoon, with coaching, demos, music and kai. We will also paint some parts of the skatepark to make it brighter and more relevant to local young people.

If you are interested in coming over, please register by filling out the form https://forms.gle/o5c1A8xvphD4iBUk9

Spring Music Festival/ Koanga hui waiata

Spring Music Festival was postponed due to bad weather. The new date is December 12. If you would like to perform at the festival please get in touch with us to arrange your spot in the programme.

Youth Music Festival in Richmond

We are excited to announce the new Youth Music Festival at Washbourn Gardens, Richmond on November 7.
If you play in a youth band or performing solo, this may be an amazing opportunity for you to perform in a nice relaxing setting of Washbourn Gardens on a Saturday afternoon.
To reserve your space send us a link to your audio or video recording by October 4, 2020.

Not a musician? There are other opportunities to be involved with the concert. You can try yourself as an MC, sound or light operator, event organizer or graphic designer.

email Yulia.Panfylova@tasman.govt.nz

call/text 027 256 96 30

Life in Lockdown writing competition

While the entire country was in lockdown and young people were studying from home, Waimea Youth Council (WYC) hosted an online creative writing competition for young people.  

There was a lot of anxiety and sadness in the work that the youth council received, but most entries were filled with hope and courage. Gulliver MacDonald, a member of WYC said they enjoyed reading the entries from across the district. Gulliver and two other youth councillors, Jacob Evans and Mackenzie Brough chose the top five entries that were judged by Tasman Mayor Tim King.  

The Mayor invited three winners to the Richmond office to award prizes and have a conversation with young people and their parents on July 2nd.  

Ruby Botica, a Motueka High school student, won the first prize of $200. Her ballad, Lockdown Beneath the Waves, impressed the Mayor and the youth councillors with its creativity and unusual perspective. While most of the other work was centred around humans, Ruby looked at the lockdown from the marine creatures’ perspective:  

...The latest news about 

Why humans did not roam 

Was that they were, for some reason 

Stuck inside their homes! 

The fishes stared and laughed 

Holding the paper in one fin 

Even the Octopus Accountant 

Put his paperwork in the bin 

Every little fish 

Every dolphin, every shark 

Danced around in happiness 

There was lightness in the dark! 

Dilyn Siobhan, a Motueka High School student, won second prize and Taylor Gibellini, Waimea College student, was awarded third prize. 

Gulliver says it was great to see how creative the youth of Tasman are, and to know that there is an interest in writing in the region.  

Some entries are published on the Tasman Youth Hub website.  

Matariki Rocks

Six Trade Academy students have created rock art dedicated to Matariki, Maori New Year. Coordinator Jess Shirley at NMIT says that the students enjoyed this project a lot and she is ‘so proud of what the students have created’. 

The rocks will be sold in an online auction on Facebook to raise funds for charitable foundations that the students selected, among them are Inside Out, Epilepsy New Zealand, Nelson Ark, Magenta Creative Space and Mental Health Foundation. 

Skyann Martin, Year 13 Tapawera Area School student, (second left on the picture), created a beautiful rock art called "Home". She is saying ‘I wanted to show the land of New Zealand and the beauty of it. As well as having a New Zealand Native bird involved to indicate our beautiful nature, all together I want my painting to be shown as our home and how we're connected and what keeps us connected with our annual celebration.’ 

Dahlia Shaw, Year 13 Waimea College student (first from the right), created a rock art that shows dramatic night landscape. ‘This piece represents my love for the night sky, as well as my love for the mountainous terrain of our great country of New Zealand’ says Dahlia.  

These rock arts will be displayed along with other Matariki rocks created by the Trade Academy students in the TDC Richmond reception area during  6-20 July.  Have a look at these rocks in our Gallery.
We would like to encourage the Tasman community to create their own Matariki rock art (it doesn’t have to be that big) and hide them in local parks for others to find and re-hide.  

We are listening

During the lockdown period, a new group of youth workers began collaborating.  Ash Cowper of Kōhine Māia invited youth workers from Westport to Kaikoura to work together to find ways to support youth during this challenging time.  The theme of Youth Week in 2020 was ‘We’re speaking.  Are you listening?’  Young people had been sharing their thoughts via posters that are displayed in our gallery, and youth workers from all across the Top of the South sent a message of support to young people in response. 

Youth Week 2020

Youth week is kicking off on the 9th of May. Many events have been cancelled but there is one activity that you will find engaging. It is gaining more popularity on social because of how simple and powerful it is.

The topic of the youth week is We are speaking. Are you listening? To give you the voice this social media campaign offers multiple options:

• Write your message to the world on a piece of paper and take a picture with it, post it on your social with #tosyouthspeaks - just like this brave girl below

• text your message to 027 25696 30

• send a picture or a message via Instagram message to Tasman Youth Council or Kohine Maia

• Your pictures will be posted in our WE ARE SPEAKING gallery, Tasman Youth Council Facebook and Instagram and other social media.