Auckland's city centre is stacked with things to do this weekend, and most of it is free or close to it. If you're in town, here's what deserves a spot on the itinerary.

The big-ticket item is at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki: a Picasso exhibition staged in collaboration with British designer Sir Paul Smith. More than 80 paintings, sculptures, ceramics, prints and drawings are on loan from the Musée national Picasso-Paris, charting the artist's career across 15 sections — from Cubism to his late obsession with ceramics, bullfighting and mythology. Smith's staging is half the appeal, with his own lighting, colour and Signature Stripe woven through the galleries. A rare chance to see a show of this scale in New Zealand.

Right outside the gallery's orbit, Te Waihorotiu Station has turned itself into an art piece. Windows of Imagination projects 179 drawings by local children — selected from over 3000 submitted in 2018 imagining where magical City Rail Link tunnels might take them — at architectural scale across the station's southern facade, glowing like illuminated apartment windows. It runs nightly from 7.30pm to midnight until Sunday, October 25, so it pairs neatly with an evening in town.

Sport fans get their moment too: Netball New Zealand is hosting a free Silver Ferns fan event at Te Komititanga from 10am to noon, with autographs, photos, interactive netball activities and a Q&A with head coach Dame Noeline Taurua and captain Karin Burger. No registration needed — just turn up and send the team off before their upcoming series.

If you'd rather take in a show, there's plenty. Tiki Taane teams up with the Auckland Philharmonia at the Town Hall on Thursday, reworking his back catalogue for full orchestra with guests Tali and Big Sima. Over at Q Theatre, the acclaimed musical A Box of Memories — about a family navigating dementia — opens a short run on October 22. Dance company Black Grace stages The Eggyssey, its fourth Company B season pairing emerging dancers with the established troupe, at its new studio space just off Karangahape Road from October 20-31.

For something quieter, head west to Titirangi's Te Uru Contemporary Gallery, where Bev Rea: A Life in Clay celebrates six decades of the ceramicist's work — from Dunedin beginnings around 1959 through Taranaki to Titirangi — with pots, photographs and archive material. It's on all weekend in the Learning Centre.

Beyond this weekend, the calendar fills up fast: Cabaret runs at ASB Waterfront Theatre until October 18, Jesus Christ Superstar lands at The Civic from October 22, the Auckland Diwali Festival lights up the city centre on October 31 and November 1, and the British and Irish Film Festival goes nationwide from October 27.

For travellers, this is a good reminder that Auckland punches above its weight for culture — and that the CRL stations themselves are becoming destinations. Base yourself centrally, and you can cover an art blockbuster, a free sporting event and a late-night light show in a single day.