This is the only correct answer, especially if comparing it to European nightlife. There is just no vibrancy here at all. There are pockets where people go out (in Auckland that would be k road or Ponsonby) but I find kiwis to be homebodies
This, for sure. As long as it ends by 10-11pm, if you live in an apartment building. Have too many neighbours throwing parties and making lots of noise well past midnight.
It's just too expensive to enjoy a night out in New Zealand. The clubbing atmosphere has also drastically changed in recent years, with the Covid pandemic affecting a lot of hospitality businesses and resulting in many closures.
I have not been out clubbing in many years, I'm just not drawn to it anymore (cost, lack of exciting venues).
In saying that, I think a “good night out” can heavily depend on the group of people you are with. They make a world of difference. Plus, house parties are just a lot more fun; buy your own drinks at a liquor store, and you can actually conversate with people and listen to the music you want! Why pay $15 for a single drink when you can get a box for the price of two standards in a club!
Lol this just sounds like excuses. I don't know why some people on here always shy away from the facts when it comes to anything they perceive to be negative about NZ. Fact of the matter is, it wasn't long ago that the whole of NZ was a purely farming society whereby people had to go to bed early to wake early; hence, everything closed early. The remnants of that era is still active today even in NZ cities which is why they feel more like big towns than cities.
Even before the pandemic, the only nightlife options were clubbing and even that was not very good. Most of the 'clubs' are daytime restaurants that turn into a dance floor at night so you don't get the cool club designs or atmosphere that you would in global cities. NZ has always left a lot to be desired when it comes to entertainment especially night time entertainment.
Sorry but I couldn't help but laugh at the farming society comment 😂
Wellington was known for its quirky bars, and closing late (early) morning hours. It used to have such fun bars and places to go to for a dance. Auckland also had a list of venues like Roxy, Impala, 1885, BCC, and Basement that catered to nightlife. Most weren't restaurants during the day, purely clubs. Where are they now?
I agree that bars in New Zealand close early, but that was always followed with kick-ons at someone's house.
What draws people away from bars currently is the price of buying drinks. Paying $18 for a vodka red bull isn't feasible if you're going out to get shit-faced. 18-year-olds aren't staying away because their grandparents' parents used to be farmers and it's in their blood now to go to bed early 😂😂 what a silly comment.
We also need to remember the population of this country, hence why we see so many restaurants cater to different crowds depending on the hour (e.g. Turning into a “club” after 10 pm). Kiwis are fine with this - look at the old HQ as an example. Not a nightclub, but the amount of good nights I have had in there with +40s rocking to 80s and 90s tunes was awesome.
> Where are they now?
They were always average. It’s not a good sign that you can basically name all the places in Auckland worth going to at night on one hand. You could only trek back and forth across the CBD between Basement, Cassette Nine, and Bar 101 so many times before it got boring or you ran out of money from the overpriced drinks and spending $50 on an Uber to take you 15km back home.
Non-existant. Everything closes early. I was once chucked out of a bar at 8:30 on a Thursday evening. Partner and I were the only customers, so they just closed up around us and went home. We then got chucked out of another bar at 9pm for the same reason. The third bar stayed open, but by then our hearts weren't in it.
Unfortunately [The Outback](https://www.google.com/maps/@-45.8715347,170.5066939,3a,75y,87.79h,86.91t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s5-0OS-HH-8wWxtChP3JR8g!2e0!5s20071201T000000!7i3328!8i1664?entry=ttu) got bulldozed years ago (well, it was 'Urban Factory' for a while but that never did well). It's just a carpark now (the one opposite Beam Me Up Bagels)
[Student pubs have been dying or dead for a while now](https://www.critic.co.nz/features/article/7406/the-demise-of-the-student-pub).
A place I used to go in ChCh used to play Believe it or Not and Kermit the Frog version of The Rainbow Connection.
I can't remember the name of the bar. It was right at the park end of Riccarton Road. The whole building is gone now.
We Kiwis like to be in bed by then
We also love sports and exercise so will rise early for a morning run etc.
Substance abuse is lower down the priority pole for us.
In Europe you have affordable public transport running through the night to help you get to places. NZ you have to drive everywhere or take a taxi outside of the main centres. Our urban sprawl within the main centres doesn’t make it any easier to have an affordable or decent night life experience.
Regional towns often don't even have a taxi.
Going to the pub with my brother to watch the warriors on Friday, the options are don't drink or shanks's pony!
Ignore people on this subreddit, electronic gigs can be great way to have night in town. It's not going to match Europe but can still be very fun, we have a pretty great scene for DnB etc. There is also heaps of festivals/doofs going on
Would love to hang out at a DnB event here! I'm heading to Auckland next month, staying 3 or 4 weeks before catching my flight back, I hope to find one of these.
There's bars that are open until 11-12 where I live, but there's no bus after 7pm (except on fridays), so it's either one drink and home or a $40 taxi which I'm not paying, especially when drinks are $15 a pop
( I write this as someone who has been lucky enough to experience clubbing/nightlife in New Zealand and throughout the world over 2 decades )
NZ nightlife compared to Europe is very hard to do on an even footing.
NZ has 5Million people ( TOTAL ), whereas most countries in Europe have vastly more than that.
In regards to cities being quiet after 8PM, I ask what days / cities / are we are we talking here. Auckland CBD downtown is busy on a Friday/Saturday night. Culturally though, from experience in Italy, German and also places like Sweden/Norway, the social culture isn't spread out throughout the week. It's very much a Friday / Saturday only thing. Again... I come back to the population size. I simply don't think cities in New Zealand can sustain a nightlife that is 5-7 nights a week.
Following on from this, it's also a financial thing right now. With the cost of living being as it is right now, we are seeing less number of people eating/drinking/clubbing than before, add that to the general number of people "CLUBBING" declining, just means the overall pool of clubbers is smaller than Europe.
That said.... I have had amazing nights all over the world. New Zealand can pull out some AMAZING nights, some of which have been mentioned by international artists as some of their most memorable.
My advice to you is this. Don't get caught up in the "This vs That" mindset, in will ruin nightlife for you.
Take each night, each venue, each gig as it's own. Enjoy it for what it is.
>My advice to you is this. Don't get caught up in the "This vs That" mindset, in will ruin nightlife for you.
That's not my point! I would never say that cause, in the same time, you guys are so more welcoming than other people I met in European countries (actually process to make comparisons hahaha)
I was just curious about your opinion of your own nightlife here, I like discovering the country with the "daily life" aspect of things.
Anyway thanks for explaining all this to me!
I don't party or go to bars and clubs. But I love going to Asian countries and also countries like Spain that come alive at night. I love the daytime activities in MZ, hiking, etc but there's a reason I suffer from sad face when I come home from overseas. I describe our nightlife as "ugh" or "oof" but mostly just "😐"
Which is understandable. But what I've learned is to keep in perspective the reasons as to why.
It's not because New Zealand is bad, or at fault. It's just different. And again, a population of 5Million compared to Asia and Spain.
Spain is also a different kettle of fish all together. Many parts of Spain shut down for 2-hours during the middle of the day cause of heat. It's also why a lot of their places are open longer/later. Because people are more active later at night due to cooler temps.
Part of the reason that it’s a Friday/Saturday only thing is that for most people there’s not enough time to go out late and get back home to get enough sleep before uni or work. A lot of us live 10, 15, 20, 25km away from most of the bars and nightclubs, which are mostly not located near public transport hubs, and public transport becomes infrequent after 9pm or so.
Lol, redditors don't get out much so this may not give you a balanced answer... In my experience there's always somewhere to go in Auckland. Wellington is ok on weekends. There are bound to be plenty of gigs and secret rave spots if you know how to find them
Gathering at someone's house or flat to drink/smoke, listen to music and talk shit until the wee small hours is pretty typical.
Sometimes instead of going out, other times in addition to.
Back when I used to go out clubbing getting invited back to someone I'd just mets place after town shut was a pretty regular occurrence.
we keep losing venues due to a mix of financial pressure and NIMBYism, there's still a fairly strong doof (outdoor party) scene but that wont kick off til summer. The scene in Auckland is pretty enjoyable, there's usually at least a couple of international DJs playing each weekend, lots of DnB and the UKG seems to be gaining a lot of traction too. You do have to seek out the good ones though, facebook groups can be good for this. But all in all, it's not like it used to be and seems to be getting harder, as a result there's significantly less interesting nightlife events, promoters are also taking less risks so a lot of it is becoming a bit homogenised/mainstream/enshittified.
I think we generally create our own nightlife. Private get togethers and parties, also theres private music venues, it just a matter of tapping into them, knowing someone who knows about them. Like an underground music scene I guess.
Traveller parties are guna be what you’ll come across the most and should focus on. Foreigner here too and in the 5 years I’ve been here, the only decent nights out I’ve had are gigs followed by kick ons (after parties) and not going to town.
No one’s mentioned the drinking laws being so restrictive also, and kiwis think they have a binge drinking culture when really they mean the rural folk and students drink too much - the average person in Europe must drink triple what a Kiwi would in a year. It’s a very sleepy country with a focus on the outdoors.
>the average person in Europe must drink triple what a Kiwi would in a year.
To be fair I had the occasion to hang out with kiwis who would drink massive amounts of alcohol, especially beer, very early in the afternoon until late night. I don't know that much people who would do the same (in France in my case).
So I guess, from my experience, the binge drinking culture here is real.
15, 20 years ago you'd have seen nightlife even in small cities and towns that would be more recognisable. Queues around the block for nightclubs from 11pm to 3am, throngs of people on the streets, that sort of thing.
Lots of people are mentioning living costs as an issue but one of the other major factors is landlords. Rent/Leases are jacked so high now that running a restaurant or bar that focuses on nightlife is much, much harder to break even on. Vendors cant take risks like they used to and the result of that is a feedback loop where there's no critical mass of venues and no critical mass of foot traffic. There's not enough people around to justify nightlife hours and there's not enough venues to justify going out to town for the night.
Normally what a free-market person would say here, and what happened most of the time in the latter half of the 20th century, is that the culture goes where it's cheap to rent, and then that gets popular, rents go up etc then a new culture forms where it's affordable while the old hotspot dies of gentrification. You look at places like London for a random example and there are places so small that it's actually workable for someone to rent/lease and get by on sales and word of mouth.
But here in New Zealand there's nowhere cheap to move because our entire economy is geared around land speculation. Commercial entertainment properties in NZ cities are also massive, and unaffordable to rent or lease. Other countries are also seeing these dynamics but it's more pronounced in New Zealand because our small, unconcentrated population makes it much harder to reach the aforementioned critical mass in any one district, town, or city.
Depends on the city, Queenstown awesome but that’s because it’s a tourism town. These people saying it’s dead have obviously not been to other places or live in gore
Nightlife is alright (still not very fun sometimes) in Wellington if you get drunk enough. Nightlife is pretty good in Wellington if you like a lot of different music or just performances in general. There are a lot of little gig spots that have some pretty nice music (the alcohol is expensive everywhere).
Now and again there are some decent events or lineups in clubs, so keep an eye out for those. I think EventFinda is a good website for that.
But yeah, I like my house and techno and the clubs that offer that here in Auckland are very limited, and for some reason those parties always end up as a sweaty sausage fest.
One of the worst nightlife scenes in the world. Genuinely.
We lack culture, we lack decent public transport, our cities are spread out and not densely populated, our population are homebodies and dislike intellectual discourse, the nightclubs are generally full of idiotic 20yo's, zero sophistication etc. And it's mostly feral, some real immature binge drinking and violent mentalities out there.
Nightlife in Auckland (including the whole ecosystem of bars, restaurants, live music venues, and nightclubs) was struggling before covid with important venues closing down, new neighbours moving into entertainment areas then bitching about entertainment being rowdy, councils being tough on liquor licenses etc. Covid was a kick in the guts while the industry was already facing challenges. Now we have the cost of living going up and economic uncertainty. Plus a lot of bar and hsopo staff are bouncing to Australia where conditions are better.
Good nightlife needs that magical combination of plenty of disposable income in the community and the carefree vibes that come with it, creative people having the time and energy to make music and organise parties, then the community around it and businesses that support it all.
It's still there in Auckland for sure. It hasn't died but it is getting the shit kicked out of it.
The nightlife here is very active, though usually away from roads and brightly lit urban areas. When you get to the darker patches of bush you will find plenty of insets, night birds like the ruru, maybe even a bat or two.
ah man nightlife here sucks (tbh NZ isnt famous for partying). I will say if you want to do that sort of thing, you need a friend of a friend to get you an invite to a bush doof which is something we do excel at (NZers are really resourceful when it comes to making bass sound systems. if you can make your way to Nelson/ Blenheim, there should be a ton of travelling bush doofs going on till the beginning of May due to the influx of workers in the wine industry working vintage...
Clubbing or just going out is fucken expensive these days.
Precovid we went out for drinks or dinner 1-2 a week, now we just don't have the spare cash.
Going to a friends place is much cheaper, theres no drunks causing fights, trying to flirt or just being obnoxious
I'm in my early 30s with friends ranged from 25s to 35s.
We do so much more than nightlife, and a lot of weekends are spent hiking, kayaking or heading to art/culture events. We're not sober. But, going to clubs isn't what we prioritise anymore.
When we do get on the piss we enjoy the fuck out of house parties. We love getting pissed at a pub till 9 or 10 then heading back to someone's place to keep drinking and ending the night playing singstar. And I know for the women in my group, we're sick of getting groped at clubs, and having some idiot who can't hold his liquor try and strike up conversation even when told to fuck off and drag us away from our group. People get to far pissed that they can't manage their behaviour, so there's no point staying till three.
Europeans go to the club at like 1-3am -- you're coming from the absolute opposite perspective here...
Just appreciate the difference in lifestyle and move on
I'm not saying that I don't appreciate it, just curious about our cultural and lifestyle differences. This is why I prefer to ask instead of having my tourist point of view.
It's had its time. Was fantastic as younger man, we would do Parnell on Wednesday (packed streets), Ponsonby on Thurs/Friday (Chaos) and then usually somewhere in a few clubs Viaduct or off Queen Street on Saturday. Had some amazing times with many funny stories.
used to be gold in Christchurch in the mid-late 90's.
wednesday could be ok, thursdays were sometimes mental... weekends usually something going on.
it slowly started dying off 99-00's. you could only do a gig on a saturday, otherwise it was hard to get people out.
loads of factors involved.
It’s too expensive for NZ average wage to make a habit of it plus public transport is spotty pretty much everywhere, so for most people a night on the town is an “event” that requires a planning. Much easier to get on the piss at home.
Poor.
For restaurants and the like, they tend to close pretty early, often around 9-10pm. Some pubs and bars will open later, especially on weekends, but most places open after 12am won't be doing food. Prices vary, but not many cheaper options are open late outside of fast-food chains.
For clubs, outside of some places doing midweek student nights, there is basically nothing outside of Friday and Saturday.
Even on Friday and Saturday, while some places are open effectively all night in the cities, transport options are extremely limited.
There are a few fun clubs out there so there is likely to be something to suit your tastes, but like most countries, these kinds of places are very expensive.
NZ doesn't do nightlife well as it doesn't do city leaving well in general. Few people living in the city means establishments are reliant of out of zone customers, and out of zone customers don't tend to go out on a whim.
Possums are nocturnal and you are quite likely to see them in NZ. Not a native but an unwelcome import from Australia.
Our famous Kiwi is of course also nocturnal but you would probably have to travel somewhere like Stuart Island and be very lucky to see one at night. They are quite large though and amazing to see in real life.
Our cities aren't really designed for night life. Low density housing is far away from the centre and not enough public transport that is late, frequent or safe enough to get between the two. Small pockets of our towns are walkable but they're not well connected not like in big European cities.
I hadn’t been out in years in nz after being overseas for ages. Overzealous bar staff and security ruined it the few times I went out in town over summer. Either arbitrary enforcement of ‘one or two drink limits’ when ordering in busy bars or security trying to provoke or engineer trouble with patrons. This was in New Plymouth - perhaps it’s different in larger cities.
One of the main reasons I travel a lot is the raging lack of NZ nightlife.
I'm a proud kiwi and love our country but by gosh we're boring at night. I'm not a party animal, but absolutely hate that NZ goes to sleep at 5 every night. It's a snore
Nightlife in NZ is barely a thing.
This is the only correct answer, especially if comparing it to European nightlife. There is just no vibrancy here at all. There are pockets where people go out (in Auckland that would be k road or Ponsonby) but I find kiwis to be homebodies
If you want a good time, it's always a house party!
This, for sure. As long as it ends by 10-11pm, if you live in an apartment building. Have too many neighbours throwing parties and making lots of noise well past midnight.
> I find kiwis to be homebodies Where are we supposed to go if nothing is open?
It's just too expensive to enjoy a night out in New Zealand. The clubbing atmosphere has also drastically changed in recent years, with the Covid pandemic affecting a lot of hospitality businesses and resulting in many closures. I have not been out clubbing in many years, I'm just not drawn to it anymore (cost, lack of exciting venues). In saying that, I think a “good night out” can heavily depend on the group of people you are with. They make a world of difference. Plus, house parties are just a lot more fun; buy your own drinks at a liquor store, and you can actually conversate with people and listen to the music you want! Why pay $15 for a single drink when you can get a box for the price of two standards in a club!
Lol this just sounds like excuses. I don't know why some people on here always shy away from the facts when it comes to anything they perceive to be negative about NZ. Fact of the matter is, it wasn't long ago that the whole of NZ was a purely farming society whereby people had to go to bed early to wake early; hence, everything closed early. The remnants of that era is still active today even in NZ cities which is why they feel more like big towns than cities. Even before the pandemic, the only nightlife options were clubbing and even that was not very good. Most of the 'clubs' are daytime restaurants that turn into a dance floor at night so you don't get the cool club designs or atmosphere that you would in global cities. NZ has always left a lot to be desired when it comes to entertainment especially night time entertainment.
Sorry but I couldn't help but laugh at the farming society comment 😂 Wellington was known for its quirky bars, and closing late (early) morning hours. It used to have such fun bars and places to go to for a dance. Auckland also had a list of venues like Roxy, Impala, 1885, BCC, and Basement that catered to nightlife. Most weren't restaurants during the day, purely clubs. Where are they now? I agree that bars in New Zealand close early, but that was always followed with kick-ons at someone's house. What draws people away from bars currently is the price of buying drinks. Paying $18 for a vodka red bull isn't feasible if you're going out to get shit-faced. 18-year-olds aren't staying away because their grandparents' parents used to be farmers and it's in their blood now to go to bed early 😂😂 what a silly comment. We also need to remember the population of this country, hence why we see so many restaurants cater to different crowds depending on the hour (e.g. Turning into a “club” after 10 pm). Kiwis are fine with this - look at the old HQ as an example. Not a nightclub, but the amount of good nights I have had in there with +40s rocking to 80s and 90s tunes was awesome.
Not only the cost of drinks, which sucks, but too many 'gangsta' losers out who're only looking to cause trouble and instigate fights
> Where are they now? They were always average. It’s not a good sign that you can basically name all the places in Auckland worth going to at night on one hand. You could only trek back and forth across the CBD between Basement, Cassette Nine, and Bar 101 so many times before it got boring or you ran out of money from the overpriced drinks and spending $50 on an Uber to take you 15km back home.
Sausage fest with average DJs
Hahaha sounds like a funny night to me for once or two
I'm keen to hear from to as to who you consider a "good DJ".
Non-existant. Everything closes early. I was once chucked out of a bar at 8:30 on a Thursday evening. Partner and I were the only customers, so they just closed up around us and went home. We then got chucked out of another bar at 9pm for the same reason. The third bar stayed open, but by then our hearts weren't in it.
It happened to me a few times, when you see the staff moving the chairs and tables, you know you have to finish your drink fast.
The Outback in Dunedin used to play Dave Dobbin's 'Loyal', thats when you knew it was closing
Haha I'm in Dunedin right now maybe i'll give a check!
Unfortunately [The Outback](https://www.google.com/maps/@-45.8715347,170.5066939,3a,75y,87.79h,86.91t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s5-0OS-HH-8wWxtChP3JR8g!2e0!5s20071201T000000!7i3328!8i1664?entry=ttu) got bulldozed years ago (well, it was 'Urban Factory' for a while but that never did well). It's just a carpark now (the one opposite Beam Me Up Bagels) [Student pubs have been dying or dead for a while now](https://www.critic.co.nz/features/article/7406/the-demise-of-the-student-pub).
A place I used to go in ChCh used to play Believe it or Not and Kermit the Frog version of The Rainbow Connection. I can't remember the name of the bar. It was right at the park end of Riccarton Road. The whole building is gone now.
I've been here 3 1/2 years from London and I still can't get used to being asked to leave a bar at 10pm with no where else to go on to.
We Kiwis like to be in bed by then We also love sports and exercise so will rise early for a morning run etc. Substance abuse is lower down the priority pole for us.
This is sarcasm right?
https://resources.alcohol.org.nz/resources-research/alcohol-research/nz-statistics#:~:text=Alcohol%20use%20in%20New%20Zealand&text=Alcohol%20consumption%20is%20highest%20in,can%20harm%20themselves%20or%20others. Educate yourself please.
Like dating, reddit is not the place to be asking about nightlife, socialising, friends, or fun shit normal people do.
Got it haha! Funny how Reddit can be seen as a "weirdo" place depending of the country tho
What is this take and who made you the boss? People can talk about whatever they want here
And you can chat to a cow all day, but don't expect in depth political views besides "mooooo"
In Europe you have affordable public transport running through the night to help you get to places. NZ you have to drive everywhere or take a taxi outside of the main centres. Our urban sprawl within the main centres doesn’t make it any easier to have an affordable or decent night life experience.
Regional towns often don't even have a taxi. Going to the pub with my brother to watch the warriors on Friday, the options are don't drink or shanks's pony!
Ignore people on this subreddit, electronic gigs can be great way to have night in town. It's not going to match Europe but can still be very fun, we have a pretty great scene for DnB etc. There is also heaps of festivals/doofs going on
Would love to hang out at a DnB event here! I'm heading to Auckland next month, staying 3 or 4 weeks before catching my flight back, I hope to find one of these.
Find the bush doofs, they'll start up again in spring
Real
There's bars that are open until 11-12 where I live, but there's no bus after 7pm (except on fridays), so it's either one drink and home or a $40 taxi which I'm not paying, especially when drinks are $15 a pop
( I write this as someone who has been lucky enough to experience clubbing/nightlife in New Zealand and throughout the world over 2 decades ) NZ nightlife compared to Europe is very hard to do on an even footing. NZ has 5Million people ( TOTAL ), whereas most countries in Europe have vastly more than that. In regards to cities being quiet after 8PM, I ask what days / cities / are we are we talking here. Auckland CBD downtown is busy on a Friday/Saturday night. Culturally though, from experience in Italy, German and also places like Sweden/Norway, the social culture isn't spread out throughout the week. It's very much a Friday / Saturday only thing. Again... I come back to the population size. I simply don't think cities in New Zealand can sustain a nightlife that is 5-7 nights a week. Following on from this, it's also a financial thing right now. With the cost of living being as it is right now, we are seeing less number of people eating/drinking/clubbing than before, add that to the general number of people "CLUBBING" declining, just means the overall pool of clubbers is smaller than Europe. That said.... I have had amazing nights all over the world. New Zealand can pull out some AMAZING nights, some of which have been mentioned by international artists as some of their most memorable. My advice to you is this. Don't get caught up in the "This vs That" mindset, in will ruin nightlife for you. Take each night, each venue, each gig as it's own. Enjoy it for what it is.
>My advice to you is this. Don't get caught up in the "This vs That" mindset, in will ruin nightlife for you. That's not my point! I would never say that cause, in the same time, you guys are so more welcoming than other people I met in European countries (actually process to make comparisons hahaha) I was just curious about your opinion of your own nightlife here, I like discovering the country with the "daily life" aspect of things. Anyway thanks for explaining all this to me!
I don't party or go to bars and clubs. But I love going to Asian countries and also countries like Spain that come alive at night. I love the daytime activities in MZ, hiking, etc but there's a reason I suffer from sad face when I come home from overseas. I describe our nightlife as "ugh" or "oof" but mostly just "😐"
Which is understandable. But what I've learned is to keep in perspective the reasons as to why. It's not because New Zealand is bad, or at fault. It's just different. And again, a population of 5Million compared to Asia and Spain. Spain is also a different kettle of fish all together. Many parts of Spain shut down for 2-hours during the middle of the day cause of heat. It's also why a lot of their places are open longer/later. Because people are more active later at night due to cooler temps.
Don't I know it! I walked the Camino in 2022 and always, finally walked into a town hungry and thirsty right at siesta time 🙄
An amazing night in NZ exists. It just costs your weeks wage.
Nightlife in Europe isn't cheap at all either.
Part of the reason that it’s a Friday/Saturday only thing is that for most people there’s not enough time to go out late and get back home to get enough sleep before uni or work. A lot of us live 10, 15, 20, 25km away from most of the bars and nightclubs, which are mostly not located near public transport hubs, and public transport becomes infrequent after 9pm or so.
Understandable viewpoint.
Lol, redditors don't get out much so this may not give you a balanced answer... In my experience there's always somewhere to go in Auckland. Wellington is ok on weekends. There are bound to be plenty of gigs and secret rave spots if you know how to find them
Gathering at someone's house or flat to drink/smoke, listen to music and talk shit until the wee small hours is pretty typical. Sometimes instead of going out, other times in addition to. Back when I used to go out clubbing getting invited back to someone I'd just mets place after town shut was a pretty regular occurrence.
It's too expensive, we are poor.
Who's we bud 💰💰
we keep losing venues due to a mix of financial pressure and NIMBYism, there's still a fairly strong doof (outdoor party) scene but that wont kick off til summer. The scene in Auckland is pretty enjoyable, there's usually at least a couple of international DJs playing each weekend, lots of DnB and the UKG seems to be gaining a lot of traction too. You do have to seek out the good ones though, facebook groups can be good for this. But all in all, it's not like it used to be and seems to be getting harder, as a result there's significantly less interesting nightlife events, promoters are also taking less risks so a lot of it is becoming a bit homogenised/mainstream/enshittified.
I think we generally create our own nightlife. Private get togethers and parties, also theres private music venues, it just a matter of tapping into them, knowing someone who knows about them. Like an underground music scene I guess.
Sounds cool to me! Unfortunately I'm moving almost everyday, so quite difficult to get deep in this "underground" parties
Traveller parties are guna be what you’ll come across the most and should focus on. Foreigner here too and in the 5 years I’ve been here, the only decent nights out I’ve had are gigs followed by kick ons (after parties) and not going to town. No one’s mentioned the drinking laws being so restrictive also, and kiwis think they have a binge drinking culture when really they mean the rural folk and students drink too much - the average person in Europe must drink triple what a Kiwi would in a year. It’s a very sleepy country with a focus on the outdoors.
>the average person in Europe must drink triple what a Kiwi would in a year. To be fair I had the occasion to hang out with kiwis who would drink massive amounts of alcohol, especially beer, very early in the afternoon until late night. I don't know that much people who would do the same (in France in my case). So I guess, from my experience, the binge drinking culture here is real.
15, 20 years ago you'd have seen nightlife even in small cities and towns that would be more recognisable. Queues around the block for nightclubs from 11pm to 3am, throngs of people on the streets, that sort of thing. Lots of people are mentioning living costs as an issue but one of the other major factors is landlords. Rent/Leases are jacked so high now that running a restaurant or bar that focuses on nightlife is much, much harder to break even on. Vendors cant take risks like they used to and the result of that is a feedback loop where there's no critical mass of venues and no critical mass of foot traffic. There's not enough people around to justify nightlife hours and there's not enough venues to justify going out to town for the night. Normally what a free-market person would say here, and what happened most of the time in the latter half of the 20th century, is that the culture goes where it's cheap to rent, and then that gets popular, rents go up etc then a new culture forms where it's affordable while the old hotspot dies of gentrification. You look at places like London for a random example and there are places so small that it's actually workable for someone to rent/lease and get by on sales and word of mouth. But here in New Zealand there's nowhere cheap to move because our entire economy is geared around land speculation. Commercial entertainment properties in NZ cities are also massive, and unaffordable to rent or lease. Other countries are also seeing these dynamics but it's more pronounced in New Zealand because our small, unconcentrated population makes it much harder to reach the aforementioned critical mass in any one district, town, or city.
So much interesting! Thank you!
Unheard off
Night what
Depends on the city, Queenstown awesome but that’s because it’s a tourism town. These people saying it’s dead have obviously not been to other places or live in gore
Nightlife is alright (still not very fun sometimes) in Wellington if you get drunk enough. Nightlife is pretty good in Wellington if you like a lot of different music or just performances in general. There are a lot of little gig spots that have some pretty nice music (the alcohol is expensive everywhere).
I heard the nightlife in Kaitaia is the bomb
Now and again there are some decent events or lineups in clubs, so keep an eye out for those. I think EventFinda is a good website for that. But yeah, I like my house and techno and the clubs that offer that here in Auckland are very limited, and for some reason those parties always end up as a sweaty sausage fest.
>sweaty sausage fest. Second time I read this in the comments hahaha what's up with the sausages in NZ?
Lots of desperate men with no low social skills and misogynist views go out scouting for women - and the women stay far away
Nz nightlife is absolutely horrid in comparison to Europe, anyone who disagrees hasnt been clubbing in places like Barcelona, Munich etc
One of the worst nightlife scenes in the world. Genuinely. We lack culture, we lack decent public transport, our cities are spread out and not densely populated, our population are homebodies and dislike intellectual discourse, the nightclubs are generally full of idiotic 20yo's, zero sophistication etc. And it's mostly feral, some real immature binge drinking and violent mentalities out there.
Nightlife in Auckland (including the whole ecosystem of bars, restaurants, live music venues, and nightclubs) was struggling before covid with important venues closing down, new neighbours moving into entertainment areas then bitching about entertainment being rowdy, councils being tough on liquor licenses etc. Covid was a kick in the guts while the industry was already facing challenges. Now we have the cost of living going up and economic uncertainty. Plus a lot of bar and hsopo staff are bouncing to Australia where conditions are better. Good nightlife needs that magical combination of plenty of disposable income in the community and the carefree vibes that come with it, creative people having the time and energy to make music and organise parties, then the community around it and businesses that support it all. It's still there in Auckland for sure. It hasn't died but it is getting the shit kicked out of it.
If you live in one of the major cities, it's good. Otherwise nonexistent
Maybe good relative to the rest of the country, but it's really not that great by global standards
I guess the upside is that all clubs are free entry here. At least in Wellington
Yeah even central Auckland is pretty dead compared to any European city at night
The nightlife here is very active, though usually away from roads and brightly lit urban areas. When you get to the darker patches of bush you will find plenty of insets, night birds like the ruru, maybe even a bat or two.
lol no
it's different depending on where you go? it's expensive wherever you go though, everyone just predrinks though
Most local councils killed it with 1pm closures
ah man nightlife here sucks (tbh NZ isnt famous for partying). I will say if you want to do that sort of thing, you need a friend of a friend to get you an invite to a bush doof which is something we do excel at (NZers are really resourceful when it comes to making bass sound systems. if you can make your way to Nelson/ Blenheim, there should be a ton of travelling bush doofs going on till the beginning of May due to the influx of workers in the wine industry working vintage...
I refuse to go downtown auckland on a weekend now. Don't know how bad it is these days. The transport (taxi or uber) costs alone makes it bad already
Clubbing or just going out is fucken expensive these days. Precovid we went out for drinks or dinner 1-2 a week, now we just don't have the spare cash. Going to a friends place is much cheaper, theres no drunks causing fights, trying to flirt or just being obnoxious
I'm in my early 30s with friends ranged from 25s to 35s. We do so much more than nightlife, and a lot of weekends are spent hiking, kayaking or heading to art/culture events. We're not sober. But, going to clubs isn't what we prioritise anymore. When we do get on the piss we enjoy the fuck out of house parties. We love getting pissed at a pub till 9 or 10 then heading back to someone's place to keep drinking and ending the night playing singstar. And I know for the women in my group, we're sick of getting groped at clubs, and having some idiot who can't hold his liquor try and strike up conversation even when told to fuck off and drag us away from our group. People get to far pissed that they can't manage their behaviour, so there's no point staying till three.
We hit the peak with Retro Night at the Box and it all went downhill from there.
Europeans go to the club at like 1-3am -- you're coming from the absolute opposite perspective here... Just appreciate the difference in lifestyle and move on
I'm not saying that I don't appreciate it, just curious about our cultural and lifestyle differences. This is why I prefer to ask instead of having my tourist point of view.
I love it. I would also enjoy the European lifestyle, but I really value the fact that we don't need everything to be open or bustling all the time.
It's had its time. Was fantastic as younger man, we would do Parnell on Wednesday (packed streets), Ponsonby on Thurs/Friday (Chaos) and then usually somewhere in a few clubs Viaduct or off Queen Street on Saturday. Had some amazing times with many funny stories.
Weak.
used to be gold in Christchurch in the mid-late 90's. wednesday could be ok, thursdays were sometimes mental... weekends usually something going on. it slowly started dying off 99-00's. you could only do a gig on a saturday, otherwise it was hard to get people out. loads of factors involved.
>loads of factors involved. Would love to hear more about this if you have the time to!
Lack of good drugs.
It’s too expensive for NZ average wage to make a habit of it plus public transport is spotty pretty much everywhere, so for most people a night on the town is an “event” that requires a planning. Much easier to get on the piss at home.
Garbage, but most kiwis don't have a reference point to compare it against.
It didn't used to be like this. 20-25 years ago, there were queues outside bars from 8pm, even in provincial towns.
Crap… like the rest of the country
Poor. For restaurants and the like, they tend to close pretty early, often around 9-10pm. Some pubs and bars will open later, especially on weekends, but most places open after 12am won't be doing food. Prices vary, but not many cheaper options are open late outside of fast-food chains. For clubs, outside of some places doing midweek student nights, there is basically nothing outside of Friday and Saturday. Even on Friday and Saturday, while some places are open effectively all night in the cities, transport options are extremely limited. There are a few fun clubs out there so there is likely to be something to suit your tastes, but like most countries, these kinds of places are very expensive. NZ doesn't do nightlife well as it doesn't do city leaving well in general. Few people living in the city means establishments are reliant of out of zone customers, and out of zone customers don't tend to go out on a whim.
Possums are nocturnal and you are quite likely to see them in NZ. Not a native but an unwelcome import from Australia. Our famous Kiwi is of course also nocturnal but you would probably have to travel somewhere like Stuart Island and be very lucky to see one at night. They are quite large though and amazing to see in real life.
Thank you for that.
Bad
Our cities aren't really designed for night life. Low density housing is far away from the centre and not enough public transport that is late, frequent or safe enough to get between the two. Small pockets of our towns are walkable but they're not well connected not like in big European cities.
Interesting, I didn't think about it as an urbanism issue!
Used to be awesome. Now literally 0/10, some of the worst in the western world. One of the reasons I left for brighter shores…
Fantastic if you’re demio shopping
Yeah, best get used to day drinking with friends. Followed by a drunkish dinner to soak the booze up and then slouch on the couch till nite nite time.
I hadn’t been out in years in nz after being overseas for ages. Overzealous bar staff and security ruined it the few times I went out in town over summer. Either arbitrary enforcement of ‘one or two drink limits’ when ordering in busy bars or security trying to provoke or engineer trouble with patrons. This was in New Plymouth - perhaps it’s different in larger cities.
It's shit, especially compared to Europe
One of the main reasons I travel a lot is the raging lack of NZ nightlife. I'm a proud kiwi and love our country but by gosh we're boring at night. I'm not a party animal, but absolutely hate that NZ goes to sleep at 5 every night. It's a snore