Kevin's Guide to Nelson, New Zealand - Visiting Nelson (Entertainment etc.)

- Gay friendly
businesses
- Media and
Entertainment

Coming Events

Helpful Contacts

Mens Health Issues

Spectrum (Nelson) Inc.

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Businesses, Entertainment and the Media

Businesses

When it comes to businesses in Nelson, it is virtually a case of you name it, it can be found here, or else someone knows of where it can be obtained, and (in the case of goods) brought into Nelson within a day or two at the most.
There are very few in the way of gay owned and operated busnesses, but most are friendly.
Following are the main ones that come to mind as being particularly gay friendly (as found out by experience). They are not neccessarily gay owned or operated.

Books. Most bookshops in Nelson now stock a wide range of gay and gay- related publications. The notable exception is Whitcoulls. Two that stand out with selection etc. are:
- The Magazine Shop, 212 Hardy St.
- Page and Blackmore's Booksellers, 254 Trafalgar St, stock a number of gay books and can obtain others on request if they are not currently on the shelves.
Café Pomeroy's Trafalgar St., (near the Cathedral Steps, on your right when looking at the steps)
Bar Victoria Rose Tavern Trafalgar St., (near the Cathedral Steps, on your left when looking at the steps)

For a fuller list, particularly of gay owned businesses, see the accommodation and helpful people pages.

Media

Nelson is well served by local media outlets, both printed and broadcast. Below is an outline of the main media outlets.

RADIO
Most radio stations in Nelson are in the FM band, although there are some still operating in the AM band - all operate 24 hours a day. The main ones to be heard in Nelson are:

National Radio (Nation-wide, commercial free, state run radio)
Concert Programme (Nation-wide, commercial free, state run radio,specialising in classical music shows - often no transmission during early morning hours)
Newstalk ZB (Nation-wide, state owned talkback)
Radio Pacific (Nation-wide, private radio station, mainly talkback - carries all race comentaries for all race meetings in the country)
Fresh FM (Nelson's unique Access/Community radio station with studios in Nelson, Motueka, and Takaka - see also http://www.freshfm.net)
More FM (Commercial radio station, part of a national network, but Nelson operated from 6am to 7pm)
Impact Radio (Student radio station operated by the students at Nelson Polytechnic - may not be 24 hour operation)
Classic Hits (Commercial radio station, part of a national network, but Nelson operated from approx. 6am to 7pm)
The Edge (part of a nation-wide commercial radio network)
The Rock (part of a nation-wide commercial radio network)
Radio Rhema (Nation-wide Gospel network)

TELEVISION
Four nation-wide, 24 hour networks, TV1 (State owned), TV2 (State owned), TV3, and Prime, are all available in Nelson. The national pay-per-view channel, Sky Television, is available in Nelson only via sattelite (25+ channels and growing, plus several radio stations each with their own channel).
Mainland Television (www.7-media.net/mainland/) is Nelson's own privately owned/operated commercial television station operating several channels (including one local for the city, and one a regional network which is slowly expanding, soon to include Wellington and Marlborough, and a gospel channel), all 24 hours a day. They carry quite a bit of DW Television from Germany, Chinese TV (in English) from Beijing, Bloomberg Television and Aljazeera, all live via sattelite as well as other programmes.

PRINT MEDIA
The Wellington and Christchurch morning papers (Dominion amd The Press respectively) are available in Nelson every morning, along with the national Sunday paper, the Sunday Star Times on Sundays.
The Nelson Mail is our own local paper, and one of the oldest daily papers in New Zealand. It is available in all daries and most supermarkets after 12 midday in Nelson and later in other areas as it is distributed (about 3pm for Golden Bay). Published daily except Sunday.
There are also local freebie community newspapers delivered to all letterboxes on a weekly basis.
Magazines are available throughout the region from a very wide range of outlets - from a range of a dozen or so in dairies, supermarkets, garages, to specialist shops (selling magazines relating to their specialities) to the more 'normal' outlets of bookshops and The Magazine Shop (in Hardy St., Nelson) with their range of over 4,000 titles.

Other Entertainment

Movies
The State cinema complex in the central business district has six screens and shows the latest releases at the same time as they are released in the rest of the country - note that this complex is privately owned and operated so passes from the major chains like Hoyts cannot be used in Nelson. There is also a cinema screen in the Suter Art Gallery which holds regular screenings.
Music
The Nelson School of Music has regular performances from a wide range of visiting artists in what is reputed to be one of the most acoustically perfect venues in New Zealand - and one of the oldest having recently celebrated its centenary.
Wearable Arts
This annual extravaganza mixes art, fashion, dance and performance into one spectacular show which is held over two weeks every September. It has become internationally known over its 15+ year history, and is always sold out early. This show started in Nelson, but a couple of years ago, it moved to Wellington.
There is now a permanant museum (www.wowcars.co.nz/) open to display some of the many works of art that have been worn in this spectacular show over the years. It is located about two minutes from Nelson's airport, and also has a range of classic cars on display.
Pubs and Clubs
Nelson has a wide range of pubs, clubs, nightclubs etc. which are often open into the small hours of the morning. Most have live entertainment, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. These are all advertised locally week by week. None of them are gay specific, and several are openly unfriendly towards gay patrons.