New Zealand music festivals

Music festivals have a long and chequered history in New Zealand. The first large outdoor rock music festivals were Redwood 70 in 1970 and the Great Ngaruawahia Music Festival in 1973. The largest was the 1979 Nambassa festival, one of several Nambassa festivals held around that time, in Golden Valley, just north of Waihi. "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 Festivals, Nambassa and The Big Day Out 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.

Nambassa 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."

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 – Mother Goose. Hinuera – Ragnarok The main stage stopped due to rain, a rapid system was put together in the Barn for Ragnarok, using Greg Peacocks Cerwin Vega composite bins, previously used as cross stage side fill monitors, on the main stage. Rhythm & Vines – 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.