No Regrets: Practical Planning, Funerals Around the World, Expressive Grief, and Music!
Date: 12th September 2026
Time: 11:30am – 7:00pm
Venue: Puāwai, Te Atamira – Building 11, Dart House, Remarkables Park Town Centre 12 Hawthorne Drive, Frankton, Queenstown 9300, New Zealand
Join us for a day full-day community event exploring end-of-life planning, cultural perspectives on funerals, creative grief workshop, and celebrating life through music. This day is held in conjunction with Dying Matters Week and Welcoming Week. You may choose to attend one, multiple or all the sessions. Everyone welcome.
Time
Activities
11.30am – 12.30pm
No Regrets (Presentation)
Some of the kindest things we can do for the people we love are the conversations we’re tempted to put off. This session offers and honest and practical planning on preparing for death and dying ahead of time/ Topic that will be covered include preparing wills, advance care plans, and the documentation that so often gets left too late. It’s not about dwelling on the end. It‘s about giving your family the gift of already knowing what you would have wanted.
This session will be led by Hospice
1.30pm – 2.30pm
Death Around the World (Talk)
While death is a shared human experience, the ways we say goodbye are wonderfully diverse. Join us for a cultural session where members of our ethnic communities share funeral traditions, customs, and beliefs from their home countries. The discussion will be led by Tarsy Koentges from the New Zealand Cemeteries and Crematoria Advisory Committee.
3.30pm – 4.30pm
Japanese Kintsugi (Workshop)
Kintsugi is the mindful Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver, celebrating flaws rather than hiding them. Grief works in a similar way in which it becomes part of who we are, woven into the shape of us rather than something to move past. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll sit with our own experiences of grief and loss.
This session will be led by Hospice
5.30pm – 7.00pm
Tiny Music Hour (Performance)
Just as every culture has its own way of marking life’s milestones, every culture has its own songs that tell stories of love, loss, hope, and celebration. Join us for an afternoon of live performances showcasing the rich multicultural talent of our district, as we explore this year’s theme, No Regrets. To conclude the day, audience members will be invited to come together in a special community singalong of Fix You by Coldplay, led by Meg Hirata.
