We’re going to be at the Maclaggan Street Warehouse (that’s the one that used to be the only one in town – not the one out in South D) doing a fundraising sausage sizzle this Sunday (the 27th of June) from 11am-3pm.

Why not drop by and say hello? Mebbe get yourself a delicious Community Access Radio fundraising sausage?

The concert on May 24th was a great success, abysmal weather notwithstanding.

This is thanks entirely to our wonderful volunteers who ran the kitchen, took money at the door, moved the chairs around and helped us pack the sound gear in and out. Thanks also to the artists who gave their time and energy freely to make the show a success.

Please consider supporting them by following the links below and checking them out:

• King Leo
• Delgirl
• The Standing Spirits
• Baba Yaga
• Martha Hill and the Mineshafts

…as well as  the guys from Artsenta, Moana House and the Dunedin College of Education Childrens’ Choir.

A final HUGE thanks to Strawberry Sound, who gave us a great deal on the sound gear, and managed the nearly impossible by setting up the whole thing in just under an hour.

You guys rock – thanks a bunch.

Our Variety Concert is in exactly one week as I write this! That means you’ve only got a week to get your special members’-price OCBS tickets. People who show up to the gig on the day will need to pay full price. Not that that’s a huge problem, as it’s only $10 for a great selection of Dunedin bands – but you may as well get the cheaper ticket if you can, right?

Variety Concert - 7.30pm, 24th May, Burns Hall

May is, as you probably know, New Zealand Music Month and we here at Toroa Radio are doing our bit!

We’ve lined up a great selection of really diverse and interesting acts, and we hope you’ll join us and the Otago Community Broadcasters’ Society at 7.30 on the 24th of May to enjoy the result. The concert’s at Burns Hall, which is in the grounds of First Church and costs $5 for OCBS members and $10 for non-members. A bargain, when you check out the line-up:

• King Leo
• Delgirl
• The Standing Spirits
• Baba Yaga

…and much more – Monday nights should always be like this!

On another note – have you taken our short survey yet?

A long-time programme maker left us this message on our whiteboard.

Thanks Al, we are sorry to lose your Northern Lights show. But we are pleased you appreciate the great service that Access Radio provides.

Here at Toroa Radio, we’re often asked who our listeners are and how many of them we have. As an Access station, this is a hard question to answer – we don’t generally approach making radio from the  same demographic-focussed position as commercial stations, so numbers are harder to count.

However, we’re put together a survey using Surveymonkey, and we’d like you to give it a shot. There’s only 10 questions, so it shouldn’t take long – and it’d be a great help to us.

Click here to give it a shot.

Thanks to everyone who showed up, and all the Society people who came and helped. Saturday’s Easter Fun Day was a great success, despite being mounted in the face of some pretty ominous-looking weather.

We had a veritable horde of children out scouring Woodhaugh for pebbles they could trade for chocolate eggs. We had Morris Dancers, bubble-blowers, musicians and story-tellers. We sold out of sausages!

All in all, we had a great time, and I reckon we’ll definitely do it again next year.

Toroa Radio Easter Family Fun Day!

Join Toroa Radio and the Otago Community Broadcasters’ Society in Woodhaugh Gardens on Saturday the 3rd of April from 11 am for a Family Fun Day and Easter Egg Hunt.

Kids, join the egg hunt! Couples, bring a picnic! Musicians, bring an instrument and jam with us!

There will be a sausage sizzle, face painting and more!

When: 11am on Saturday 3 April

Where: Woodhaugh Gardens (near the playground)

Cost: Gold coin donation (fundraising for Toroa Radio)

Have you discovered the Toroa Radio breakfast hour yet?

Every day except for Thursday (when you’ll still hear the inimitable Calder Prescott) Toroa Radio staff are now doing a regular breakfast hour. Our goal is to make sure you always have something interesting to start the day with on Toroa Radio.

So far we’ve talked to:

• Anni Watkins, from Jack Frost Morris.
• Lynn Kelly and Victoria McIntosh, a pair of local jewellers.
• Jill from Artsenta, talking about their “Making Tracks” exhibition at the railway station.
• Richard Dingwall from the New Edinburgh Folk Club, about Eddi Reader and folk music generally.
• The organisers of the Catlins  Woodstock festival.

All these interviews are available as podcasts, so if something we’ve done looks interesting (or you have something to do at 9) you can always check back later.

With the beginning of a new year, and a new automation now running well – what would you like to hear on Toroa Radio? Let us know, and we’ll try and sort it out for you.