Mercury Bay Art Escape

The Coromandel region is home to many talented emerging and established NZ artists. From sculptors and painters to weavers and jewellers. The Mercury Bay Art Escape is a popular self-drive art trail from Tairua through to Otama, set up to showcase the amazing talent this area has to offer.

The offical MBAE event has been held annually in March every year since 2008, but its roots go as far back as 2005.

Across 2 weekends in March, around 50 participating local artists and galleries open their studio doors to the public, providing a great opportunity to see the artists at work and a chance to meet and talk with them to understand the inspiration behind their work.

The art trail itself is free (download the map from their website). The opening night gala evening is a ticketed event held on the Friday night before the first weekend.

Getting to the Mercury Bay Art Escape from Flaxmill

Flaxmill is located within 1 hour’s drive of each end of Mercury Bay (30 minutes to Tairua and 1 hour to Otama) as well as a short drive to Cooks Beach, Hahei and Hot Water Beach.