There is plenty happening across Christchurch and Canterbury this weekend, with a brand new night market opening in the central city, major live music and theatre, a sustainability expo, photography events, community fundraisers and some seriously challenging winter endurance events.

The weekend gets under way on Friday night with the grand opening of Christchurch’s new City Night Market at The Arts Centre. Running from 5pm until 9.30pm in Market Square, the free event will feature international street food, specialty drinks, a bar, local stalls and live entertainment. The market is set to become a weekly Friday night fixture at The Arts Centre through until Christmas.

Photography enthusiasts also have a big weekend ahead, with the New Zealand Photography Show taking over Majestic on Durham on Friday and Saturday. The two-day event includes speakers, workshops, demonstrations and a trade exhibition, with Sunday reserved for specialist masterclasses and the Gala Awards Ceremony. The event brings photographers from around the country together in Christchurch and follows judging for the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography Iris Awards earlier this week.

On Saturday, the Christchurch Go Green Expo returns to Wolfbrook Arena, running across both Saturday and Sunday. The expo covers sustainable homes and building, food, gardening, health and wellness, beauty, household products and environmentally focused products and services. ChristchurchNZ lists the event from 10am until 4pm each day with free entry.

Those looking for a more traditional weekend market can head back to The Arts Centre on Saturday for The Seekers Mākete, which runs every Saturday from 10am until 3pm. The free market brings together handmade crafts, jewellery, art, pottery and homewares alongside street food and live entertainment.

Saturday night has several options for music and theatre fans.

Christchurch-born songwriter Lawrence Arabia, the musical moniker of James Milne, will perform with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra at the Christchurch Town Hall from 8pm. Milne, an APRA Silver Scroll and Taite Music Prize winner, will have his indie-pop catalogue reworked for the orchestra for the one-night-only concert.

At The Court Theatre, Victor Rodger’s At the Wake continues its Christchurch season with a 6.30pm Saturday performance. The dark comedy follows Robert, a half-Samoan expatriate who returns to New Zealand for his mother’s funeral and finds himself confronting an unpredictable grandmother, simmering family tensions and long-held secrets. The production runs until August 15.

Another musical option is a Candlelight tribute to Coldplay and Imagine Dragons at The Piano on Saturday night, featuring string arrangements of the bands’ music in the candlelit concert format.

Sunday morning brings plenty of opportunities for a browse and something to eat. The Monthly Dutch Market is on at the Netherlands Society Cultural Centre on Marshland Road from 10am until 12.30pm, with Dutch cheeses, herring, pea soup, smoked sausage, poffertjes, croquettes, oliebollen, stroopwafels and Dutch apple tart among the offerings. Entry is free.

The Riccarton Sunday Market will also operate from 9am until 2pm at Riccarton Racecourse. More than 200 vendors regularly attend the market, selling everything from fruit and vegetables to clothing, plants, furniture, art, food and second-hand goods, with entry and parking free.

For something a little different, free Bulgarian folk dancing is being held at Somerfield Community Centre from 3pm until 5pm on Sunday, while a darkroom workshop at Photosynthesis on Battersea Street will teach participants how to produce traditional silver gelatin prints from black and white film negatives.

There is plenty happening beyond central Christchurch too.

In Rangiora, The Big Spin RPM Fundraiser begins at MainPower Stadium at 3pm on Saturday. The 24-hour spinning event continues into Sunday and is raising money for Daffodil Day.

For people who prefer their weekend considerably more strenuous, the Hanmer Springs Backyard Ultra gets under way on Saturday, with competitors repeatedly completing a set loop until only one runner remains. Sunday also brings the final event in the Canterbury Winter Trail Run Series at Inverary Station near Mount Somers, along with the Wicked Rogaines Winter event at Motunau in North Canterbury, offering two, four and six-hour navigation challenges.

Environment Canterbury is also holding a Waimakariri off-road clean-up on Sunday at Waimakariri River Regional Park. Volunteers will collect rubbish from the regional park, with bags, gloves, drinking water and a barbecue lunch provided. The event is open to all ages, although registration is required.

With everything from street food and orchestral indie-pop to markets, theatre, sustainability, photography and winter adventure on offer, there should be few excuses for staying home this weekend.