Keep busy this Easter weekend

The Easter Show, an Easter Bunny Hunt and an orchestra performance - here's your low-cost guide to the four-day Easter weekend.

The Christchurch Easter Show

Come along to the first weekend of the Christchurch Easter Show! Shop around at the 40+ market stalls, grab a bite to eat from one of the food vendors and enjoy live performances and entertainment. There will be a number of free activities including face painting, a colouring competition, an Easter egg hunt, a petting zoo, Easter egg decorating and a silent disco.

Check out the Ferris wheel and other amusement rides, as well as bouncy castles. The Easter Show is open from 18 – 21 and 25 – 27 April at the Canterbury A&P Showgrounds.

Easter Bunny Hunt at Christchurch Gondola

Head to the Christchurch Gondola to search for the hidden Easter Bunnies around the Summit Station complex this Friday and Saturday and receive an Easter treat. Kids can collect an Easter Bunny Hunt form from reception at the Base Station, find the bunnies and letters hidden around the Summit Station complex, and unscramble the Easter word to exchange their completed form for an Easter treat.

Please note that while the Easter Bunny Hunt is free for children to participate in, standard ticket fees apply for entry to the Christchurch Gondola.

Easter magic magnets

Join Paint & Sip Studio at Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre to pain a mini flowerpot “basket” for Easter eggs and some Easter-themed fridge magnets. Then hunt for eggs around The Arts Centre, returning to the Great Hall to claim your treasures.

This session will be on at various times over the weekend for $20 and is part of The Arts Centre’s April 2025 School Holiday Fun programme.

Sock Bunny Heroes: Craft, Learn, Protect – Easter Activity

Join at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens for a fun and creative session exploring the environmental impact of rabbits while crafting sock bunnies to take home. Learn about rabbits’ impact on our ecosystems, how they affect the environment and what we can do to protect native species.

Get crafty by transforming old socks into cute bunnies – bring an old sock if you have one! Come along to the Gardens from 10am – 1pm Saturday to get involved.

Bach St John Passion 2025

The CBS Choir and Orchestra present their annual Good Friday St John Passion by J.S. Bach. Written for Good Friday, 1724, the Passion is a compact and dramatic setting of St John’s description of Christ’s last hours.

Soloists will be Nicola Holt, Jessica Wells, Ken Joblin, Wally Enright, and Chris Whelan, with Adrian Lowe as Evangelist. The orchestra will be led by Natalia M. Lomeiko, Continuo will be provided by Janet Cubey, cello, with Grant Bartley, organ, and the performance will be directed by Don Whelan. The Bach St John Passion will be at Catholic Pro-Cathedral from 8 – 9.30pm Friday for $25-$30.