If you could bottle Newtown, what would it smell like?
Saturday, 7 March 2026
If you could bottle Wellington’s Newtown, what would it smell like? Coffee and roses? Cumin and cigarettes? Maybe a hint of nag champa incense, leather, or traffic fumes? Local artist and perfumer Nathan Taare has taken on the challenge ‒ turning the suburb’s chaotic charm into a fragrance.
As part of the annual Newtown Festival being held this Sunday, March 8 ‒ it’s believed to be the largest street fair in Aotearoa, attracting up to 80,000 people ‒ Taare and his partner Sophie Hathaway, who live in the neighbouring suburb of Berhampore, have created a red and white vase-like clay vessel that is infused with and holds a uniquely Newtown scent.
The sculpture by ceramicist Hathaway and scent by Taare are both titled The Heart of Newtown.
People will be able to view and sniff the sculpture from Sunday at Twentysix Gallery on Constable St. The sculpture will not be for sale, but there will be a limited number of vials of the scent available for purchase. All earnings will be donated to Newtown’s Shakti Women’s Refuge.
Taare, who previously created a scent to encapsulate Auckland’s vibrant Karangahape Rd, said the smell he landed on is ultimately inspired by Newtown’s sights, smells, energy and “everything to do with it”: its streets, histories and contradictions.
“It’s such an inspiring place. I live just south of Newtown. I’ve spent so much time there. It’s the food; the culture; the diversity and gritty side. That grit makes it unique,” he said.
Taking a wander through the suburb, Taare decided rose had to be a part of the modern fragrance profile, because of its residents’ plentiful rose gardens. He also used rosemary, drawing on Newtown’s abundant communal supply of the herb.
To pay homage to its highly diverse eateries and food markets spanning cultures, Taare used a variety of spices, including the sometimes-polarising cumin. “Some people have that feeling towards Newtown. But it was important for me to make it smell beautiful, and to share that with the community.”
It was also impossible to ignore the smell of coffee; traffic; dusty leathery flats; old wood and books; even the waft of a cigarette being smoked on a street corner.
Some of the scent’s other notes include but are not limited to tobacco, nag champa (incense), musks, tar, clove, patchouli heart and sandalwood.
“The drama is in that tension between the beauty and the grit. … It’s about trying to strike that balance.”
Taare said everybody would have a different take on it, but he wanted to gift the Newtown community something they could cherish.
Regarding Hathaway’s sculpture, Taare said it had been designed to almost look like a beautiful cartoon heart from afar. On closer inspection, ventricles, veins and a more grotesque side emerge. “It’s got bits of both worlds in there.”
A bit like the suburb itself, then.
Taare, who grew up in the Hutt Valley, and Hathaway, who grew up in Gisborne, both cherish Newtown as a part of how they met in Wellington. Now, they are raising their children nearby. “It’s a really special place for us.”
The Heart of Newtown name references both the heart or middle notes of a fragrance, that help define a scent’s core identity and character; but also Newtown’s diversity, proximity, tenderness and friction ‒ and how some may view it as Wellington City’s own heart.
Reflective of Wellington’s many communities and popular with artists, students, heritage buffs and beyond, the suburb ‒ which has its share of social problems, as with everywhere else ‒ is, at its core, an incredibly creative place, Taare said.
“If I need inspiration, I go there. … Newtown has that about it. It’s pretty funky.”
Newtown Festival takes over Newtown on Sunday, March 8, from 9am to 10.45pm. Main streets are closed to vehicles as the suburb prepares to host 16 live music stages, 400+ food and other stalls, street performances, and fairground activities. Shops and businesses will be open.