Music festivals have a long and chequered history in New Zealand. The first large outdoor rock

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

s were

Redwood 70 The Redwood 70 National Music Convention, commonly referred to as Redwood 70, was a music festival held on Auckland Anniversary Weekend in Swanson, West Auckland, New Zealand in 1970. Held six months after the Woodstock festival in the United ...

in 1970 and the Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival in 1973. The largest was the 1979

Nambassa Nambassa was a series of hippie-conceived festivals held between 1976 and 1981 on large farms around Waihi and Waikino in New Zealand. They were music, arts and alternatives festivals that focused on peace, love, and an environmentally friendly ...

festival, one of several

festivals held around that time, in Golden Valley, just north of

Waihi Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...

. "There are regular jazz, folk, ethnic and country music awards and festivals, some of which have been in existence for decades. Large music festivals, for example

Sweetwaters Music Festival Sweetwaters Music Festival was a series of events held between 1980 and 1999, at venues such as a farm in Ngāruawāhia, then further north on a farm near Pukekawa, and finally at South Auckland, New Zealand. Events *1980 - Ngāruawāhia *1981 ...

s, Nambassa and The

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

have been staged periodically since the 1970s", says Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Parachute Music Festival is a Christian music festival held in New Zealand. It was one of New Zealands largest music festivals and it is the Southern Hemispheres largest Christian music festival. On March 27, 2014 Parachute Music released a statement on its Facebook and its website announcing that Parachute Music Festival would no longer be running.

Largest

1979 was the largest music event in New Zealand. "Nearly 60,000 came, making it, per capita, the world’s largest festival of its type." "Nambassa will be remembered for many things. It was the largest campsite, the biggest and brightest party, and the best attended and most successful musical and cultural event ever in New Zealand." # Hamsterfest Folk Festival – 1970–present

Current recurring events

* ANZEM Festival – 2020–Present –

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

* Auckland Folk Festival – 1973–present * Aum New Years Eve Festival ॐ –

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...

Jazz and Blues Festival – 1999 or earlier to present. * Canterbury Folk Festival – ?–present. Currently near Waipara, North Canterbury, over Easter * Cardrona Folk Festival – 1977–present – small folk festival in the Cardrona Valley between Wanaka and Arrowtown over Labour Weekend * Coro Summer Fest – 2105–present – small festival in Coromandel Town, held on the second or third weekend of Januar

CubaDupa
- 2015-present - Huge free street arts festival in Cuba Street, Wellington. 500 events in two days, last weekend of March each year
Earth Beat Music + Arts Festival
— 2015–present,

, New Zealand * Electric Avenue Festival – 2015–present – Hagley Park, Christchurch * Festival One – 2005–present – Christian Music Festival *

A Low Hum A Low Hum is the ongoing project founded by photographer and music impresario Blink (born Ian Jorgensen), and is based in Wellington, New Zealand. Under the umbrella A LOW HUM, Blink organises tours, releases records, makes music videos, organis ...

– 2006–2014 – Small music festival in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

each year over Waitangi Weekend. 50 bands over 3 or 4 days. * Highlife NYE Experience –

* Homegrown –

* Tora Bombora – Tora, South Wairarapa. 2019–present * Luminate Festival – Pikikirunga, Golden Bay, Nelson
New Zealand International Jazz & Blues Festival
– 1999–present,

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand * Northern Bass – Mangawhai.
Outfield Music, Food & Festival
— 2019–present,

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

, New Zealand * Queenstown Winter Festival – Queenstown * Rhythm & Alps – unknown-present – in Cardrona Valley near Wanaka. *

Rhythm & Vines Rhythm and Vines (commonly known as R&V, RnV or Rhythm) is an annual music festival held at Waiohika Estate vineyard, northwest of Gisborne, New Zealand. The festival began in 2003 and was held for the one day of New Year's Eve until 2008 wh ...

– 2003–present – vineyard near Gisborne. * Soundscape (New Zealand festival) – 2010–present –

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

CBD. * SoundSplash – Whaingaroa / Raglan and

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

New Zealand reggae New Zealand reggae is the New Zealand variation of the musical genre reggae. It is a large and well established part of New Zealand music, and includes some of the country's most successful and highly acclaimed bands. History Reggae bands in New ...

festival. *

Splore Splore is an annual boutique music and arts three day festival held at Tapapakanga Regional Park, in Orere Point, New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two ma ...

– Tapapakanga Regional Park. Ten years festival. *

St Jerome's Laneway Festival The St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, commonly referred to as Laneway, began in Caledonian Lane, Melbourne, Australia, in 2005. Beginning as predominantly an indie music event, the festival grew in popularity and expanded to five Australian citie ...

– 2010–present –

* Swampfest – 2004–present –

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

's Globe Theatre. * Tui Folk Festival – Near Tapawera in the Nelson district over New Year. * Waimate Folk Festival – formerly the Whitestone Folk Festival – small festival at Gunns Bush near Waimate in South Canterbury over Queen's Birthday Weekend * Wellington Folk Festival (Wellyfest) – over Labour Weekend * Whare Flat Folk Festival – 1975–present, near Whare Flat in the Silverstream Valley, a short distance from Dunedin, over New Year.

Past recurring events

* Alpine Unity – 2001–2002, Southern Alps. Later rebranded as Alpine. *

– 1994–1997, 1999–2012, 2014 – Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland. *

Big Gay Out Big Gay Out is an LGBT, LGBTQ festival in New Zealand, Aotearoa/New Zealand. It has been running in Auckland, New Zealand since 2000. The event was founded by the Hero Festival, but is now organised by the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa. During th ...

– Pt Chevalier, Auckland. * Brown Trout Festival – 1980, 1983 – on a farm east of Dannevirke * BW Summer Festival – 2004–2015– Lead-up to

in Gisborne. * Coromandel Gold – Whitianga. * Destination – 2001–2004, Cave Stream, Southern Alps. * The Gathering – 1996–2002 – Canaan Downs, Takaka Hill, near Nelson (96/97, 97/98, 98/99, G2000) and Cobb Valley, Golden Bay, near Nelson (G1 and G2). *

G-TARanaki Guitar Festival GTaranaki, also known as G-TARanaki, was New Zealand's first international guitar festival held in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand annually from July 2008. The week-long festival brings some of worlds best guitarists to Taranaki to perform, ...

– 2008–2010 – International guitar festival in New Plymouth, Taranaki. * La De Da – 2010–2013 -held at Daisybank Farm, in

Martinborough Martinborough ( mi, Wharekaka) is a town in the South Wairarapa District, in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It is 65 kilometres east of Wellington and 35 kilometres south-west of Masterton. The town has a resident population of The town ...

. *

Mountain Rock Music Festival Mountain Rock Music Festivals, held on a farm near Woodville and later moved to a site near Palmerston North, were widely celebrated Kiwi music events in New Zealand during the 1990s. The event was created and promoted by Paul Geange and Paul Ca ...

– 1992–1996 – Farm near Pahiatua. *

– 1978, 1979, 1981 – Music and alternatives festivals in Golden Valley, north of

and Waitawheta valley near

Waikino Waikino is a small settlement at the eastern end of a gorge in the North Island of New Zealand alongside the Ohinemuri River, between Waihi and the Karangahake Gorge. The Waikino district lies at the base of the ecologically sensitive Coromandel ...

. * Parachute Music Festival – 1995–2014 – contemporary Christian music attracting around 30,000 people each year to Mystery Creek,

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

. *

Parihaka International Peace Festival Parihaka is a community in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and Ne ...

–

Parihaka Parihaka is a community in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, located between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea. In the 1870s and 1880s the settlement, then reputed to be the largest Māori village in New Zealand, became the centre of a major camp ...

– Taranaki. 2006–2010. The farmland close to the three marae at Parihaka was turned into a festival site with camping for four days. * Phat – Maitai Valley, near Nelson, and Inangahua. The 2007 event was called 'Phat07 Bass Camp' * Redwood music festivals – unknown – Farm/orchard at Redwood Park, West Auckland. * Resolution – New Year's Eve dance party near

Whitianga Whitianga is a town on the Coromandel Peninsula, in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is located on Mercury Bay, on the northeastern coast of the peninsula. The town has a permanent population of as of making it the ...

Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India **Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements ** Dutch Coromandel *Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Coro ...

. * Strawberry Fields Music Festivals – 1993–1995 – Farm near Queenstown; farm at Te Uku near Raglan. * SummerDaze – Queenstown. *

– 1980–1984, 1999 – Farm near Ngāruawāhia; farm near

Pukekawa Pukekawa is a town in the Lower Waikato River area of New Zealand's North Island, 66 km south of central Auckland. The area's fertile soils are used to grow a range of vegetables, including onions, potatoes and carrots. The town was in ...

. A Sweetwaters South festival was also staged in Christchurch in 1985. * Te Wairua – January 1986–89 and Gathering 1989 and Gathering 1990 (not connected to the Canaan Downs Gatherings); New Age festivals held on a farm east of

Ōwhango Ōwhango is a small town in New Zealand situated about south of Taumarunui on New Zealand State Highway 4, State Highway 4 (SH4), and about west of the Whakapapa River, a tributary of the nascent Whanganui River. Ōwhango has been the New Zeal ...

on the bank of the

Whakapapa Whakapapa (, ), or genealogy, is a fundamental principle in Māori culture. Reciting one's whakapapa proclaims one's Māori identity, places oneself in a wider context, and links oneself to land and tribal groupings and the mana of those. Exper ...

river. No mainstage, but a marquee and permanent building as HQ. Intensive, day-long Native American style

sweat lodges A sweat lodge is a low profile hut, typically dome-shaped or oblong, and made with natural materials. The structure is the ''lodge'', and the ceremony performed within the structure may be called by some cultures a purification ceremony or simply ...

were a feature of these festivals. ''Te Wairua'' is

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

for "The Spirit". * Visionz music festival, pakawau Billy King creek, Robinsons farm, Golden Bay 2000-2004

Past events

* Concert for the Deaf – unknown – Sports (rugby) stadium in Hamilton * Full Circle New Year 31 December 2004 – 2 January 2005. Cobb Valley, Golden Bay. *

The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival was the first large outdoor music festival in New Zealand. It was held on a farm at Ngāruawāhia on the Waikato River, 19 kilometres north-west of Hamilton, for three days from 6 to 8 January 1973. Manag ...

– 6–8 January 1973 – Farm at Ngāruawāhia, 19 kilometres north-west of Hamilton, on the Waikato River. * Hinuera Music Festival – Farm at Hinuera, near

Matamata Matamata () is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which takes ...

. * The Moos – 2001 – Check-Point Charlie – Farm (sheep station) near Rimutaka Forest park. *

– 31 January–1 February 1970 – Redwood Park,

Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...

, West Auckland * Toots & Grooves – 25–27 January 2008 –

Ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

festival over 2 days. * Waikino music festival – January 1977 – Farm at Waitawheta near

, between

and

Karangahake Gorge The Karangahake Gorge lies between the Coromandel and Kaimai ranges, at the southern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. A sharply winding canyon, it was formed by the Ohinemuri River. State Highway 2 passes throug ...

. Pre-event run by

. * Zombies' Jamboree – c1987 acoustic music festival at Muhunoa, east of Ohau, Horowhenua

Memorable events

* The Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival – Corben Simpson removed all his clothes on stage and was reported nationwide in the media, Black Sabbath burned a cross on the hill while getting the entire audience to light a match or lighter. "Todd (Hunter) ... gathered some friends and fellow performers for an appearance at the Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival. They wrote original songs for their set list, and someone pulled the name "Dragon" out of an I Ching book. Their performance at the Ngaruawahia Music Festival led to a better gig, a few weeks performing at the Occidental Hotel in Auckland." * Sweetwaters Music Festival – On closing night with jam packed traffic, A man had a serious seizure, a doctor was called via helicopter, the police boat transferred the man across the Waipa river to a waiting ambulance, bound for Waikato hospital. On opening night a girl broke both ankles while riding the bonnet of a car into the farm. *

Hinuera Hinuera is a settlement in the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located along State Highway 29, approximately halfway between the cities of Hamilton and Tauranga. It also contains the Hinuera cliffs along State Highway 29. ...

– Mother Goose. *

– Ragnarok The main stage stopped due to rain, a rapid system was put together in the Barn for Ragnarok, using Greg Peacocks

Cerwin-Vega Cerwin-Vega Inc. is a brand name used on products for professional audio components, as well as home audio speakers, and car audio components. Originally a stand-alone company, Cerwin-Vega was acquired by the Stanton Group after declaring bankr ...

composite bins, previously used as cross stage side fill monitors, on the main stage. *

– In 2014, a large riot broke out on New Year's Eve at Gisborne's BW campground. The campground traditionally played host to a majority of the Rhythm & Vines festival attendees. In the years leading up to 2014, a culture of excessive drinking and raucous behaviour, particularly on the final day of the festival, had been established at the campground. The campground's liberal B.Y.O. policy enabled festival attendees to load up on alcohol throughout New Year's Eve, prior to boarding buses to the nearby R&V festival where B.Y.O. was not permitted. Unlike previous years, the 2014 BW campground did not allow campers to enter sections of the campground aside from that in which they were tenting. This enforced segregation of campers was disliked by many attendees, and early in the afternoon, as excitement began to build for the night ahead, a coordinated effort was made by a minority of campers to attempt to tear down the deer fencing which divided the campground. Security was quickly overwhelmed, and the successful flattening of the first fence sparked general dissent and disorderly behaviour throughout the entire campground. Over the next few hours chaos ensued, as tents and gazebos were systematically flattened and set on fire by punters. Several large bonfires were fuelled by tents and camping equipment. The event resulted in 63 arrests, 83 reported injuries, and seven hospital admissions. As attendees began boarding the buses to the nearby site of the RnV festival, the violence died away leaving a ruined campground. Tighter security at the site of the R&V festival meant that the overflow of disorder between BW campground and the main event was minimal. 2014 was the final year that BW hosted Rhythm and Vines attendees en masse. Partly as a result of this event, summer music festivals with B.Y.O. alcohol licenses have become almost unheard of in New Zealand.

Gallery

File:1979 Festival Aerial Image.jpg, Nambassa 1979 aerial File:DaveDobbynMountainRock3v1p1p448.jpg, Dave Dobbyn File:BlueMountainRock MusicFest.jpg, Mountain Rock 3 File:1979 NAMBASSA BACKSTAGE PASS.jpg, Back stage pass File:Mrockaaapass.JPG, AAA pass for Mountain Rock hand-signed by promoter File:Sfaaapass.JPG, Strawberry Fields AAA (access all areas) pass File:ConcertRugbyParkp640.jpg, Concert for the Deaf File:Mrockartists.JPG, Mountain Rock T-shirt File:Browntrout83.jpg, Brown Trout 83 Logo

Books

* Keighley, Daniel. ''Sweetwaters: The Untold Story''. Reviewed by Simon Sweetman: "Daniel Keighley was the man behind the financial disaster that was Sweetwaters ’99. He was charged with fraud and jailed and ''Sweetwaters: The Untold Story'' is his account of what went wrong. Billed as an autobiography

* ''Nambassa: A New Direction'', edited by Colin Broadley and Judith Jones, A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1979. *