Raggamuffin 2012 line-up (Update)

Rotorua's Raggamuffin 2012 line-up has been revealed - international acts Billy Ocean, Marvin Priest, Big Mountain, Junior Marvin and dance hall Dube will join headliner Ali Campbell at the premier reggae event.

Former UB40 frontman Ali Campbell, Grammy Award-winning artist Billy Ocean, son of reggae legend, Maxi, and singer of the current top 40 track debut single Own This Club Marvin Priest, US reggae group Big Mountain, The Wailers' Junior Marvin and Lucky Dube's daughter Nkulee Dube will perform at the Rotorua International Stadium at next year's event on January 28.

Joining the line-up of international artists on the main stage are Kiwi groups Kora and Three Houses Down. Other groups House of Shem, Cornerstone Roots, Sons of Zion, Sweet and Irie, Tomorrow People, Soljah, NRG Rising and Foundation will also be part of the event along with DJs Sir-Vere, Poroufessor and Beau Zee.

The 2012 event will be the biggest yet, celebrating five years in Rotorua. The festival will offer more than 12 hours of reggae, dance hall and funk with a dash of R & B and hip-hop on two stages. Celebrations will start on January 27 on the Second Stage, Field 2 at the stadium with a mix of bands and DJs.

A Rotorua District Council economic impact report on Raggamuffin showed the annual event injected about $15million a year into Rotorua's economy with concert-goers staying overnight in the city and spending an average of $751 each. About 20,000 people went to this year's festival, the lowest number on record, but council officers were confident numbers would be up again next year given the stronger line-up.

The concert attracted 32,000 people in 2008, 22,000 in 2009 and 29,000 in 2010.

Events and Venues general manager Peter McLeod said he was surprised by some of the statistics.

"The reality is Raggamuffin has matured over the past four years. It's not just a one-day event where people come and go on the Saturday, it's become very much a destination event and has a comfortable home here in Rotorua."

Figures showed 62.6 per cent of concert-goers stayed overnight in the city, with just 13.5 per cent coming for the day.

Of the overnight visitors, 57.2per cent stayed for two nights with 9.4 per cent staying three.

Day visitors spent an average of $116.13 (exclusive of GST) each while overnight visitors spent $751.04 (exclusive of GST) per person while in the city.

The report showed Rotorua benefited by $9.3 million in direct spending (exclusive of event expenditure by the promotor, cast, crew and ticket income) with an estimated total economic impact of $14.9 million.

The Rotorua event attracts the biggest crowds of the Australasian series, with the festival also held in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in 2011. The report also revealed the age of concert-goers was higher than first thought with 41.6 per cent of patrons aged 20 to 29, 27.8 per cent in the 30-39 age group and 14.3 per cent aged 40 to 49. Just 12.4 per cent of patrons were aged 19 and under.

Mr McLeod said A total of 31.4 per cent of festival-goers were from Auckland, 14.3 per cent from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty and 24.1 per cent from Rotorua.

A further 14.4 per cent came from Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Manawatu.

Rotorua has exclusive hosting rights for the event until at least 2015 but Mr McLeod said Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington, Napier and Tauranga were interested in hosting. "I'm sure other centres will continue to try and take it away from us, but by 2015 it would have been here for eight years and would have become a real Rotorua destination event," he said.

A limited number of extra-cheap tickets to Raggamuffin 2012 go on sale August 10 for $85 plus booking fee but are only available to those who sign up at www.Raggamuffin.co.nz. Once they're gone, prices will jump to $109.

BY THE NUMBERS

Total economic impact $14.9 million per year

62.6 per cent of concert-goers stayed one night or more

Overnighters spent an average $751 each

Day visitors spent an average $116 each