Gig Buddies Auckland Launches With A Bang!

On March 30 Gig Buddies Auckland formally launched with a collaborative event at the iconic Victoria Park in the city. With several fantastic bands and artists performing live (many with intellectual disabilities or autism), alongside our Gig Buddies DJ crew, and some great food trucks and market stalls, it was a ripper, with hundreds turning out to enjoy it. Our friends at Kain Sining took the opportunity to interview the team at the event, and put together this brilliant introductory video:

We had a couple of roving photographers on the day as well, photo-dump below, and keep an eye on our Instagram (@gigbuddiesauckland) for more.

Neuro-diversity in Drum and Bass - The People Speak

UK-based Drum and Bass website Inside DNB have just published a great collaborative community-led article on Neuro-diversity within the drum and bass scene.

https://insidednb.net/neurodiversity-in-dnb-the-people-speak

Contributors have provided the below feedback about how beneficial contributing was, which is a great outcome in and of itself, and beyond that, the article itself opens up a great conversation and opportunity for better understanding

“Thanks for doing this. It’s been a challenge to complete it but has also helped me to organise my thoughts and understand myself a bit better“

“I want to thank you for raising awareness, people have found me “strange, weird, dorky, goofy” all my life and if instead they just considered me or other neuro-divergent people just “unusual”, that would be a progress in itself“

“I find it hard to imagine a world designed for neurodiverse people, because it feels like it would be so far removed from the one we live in now“

“My parents battled with the authorities to get my statement of special educational needs written as a child to include the positive things I could do, rather than just the negatives that were included as it was originally written.  I don’t think you have left much room in this questionnaire for positive sides of being neurodiverse“

Tiendecity Share Gig in Vic Park Video

Our food partners for the Gig in Vic Park event, Tiendecity have just posted a great little video of the event, shared below. They're an awesome collective of foodies and makers based here in Tamakai Makaurau - Auckland, and we thoroughly recommend you follow their social media for upcoming events, soooo delicious!

Here's some pics of their lovely vendor's stalls/trucks on the day (more pics and videos to come):