Stan Walker and Midnight Youth at Summerfest

Stan Walker and Jeremy Redmore of Midnight Youth will be returning home to perform for Tauranga locals on Waitangi weekend as part of a new festival.

Summerfest, launched by Creative Tauranga and Tauranga Round Table, is aimed at celebrating and showcasing the region's talents, while also raising the spirits of locals affected by the Rena oil spill and Psa disease.

Tracey Rudduck-Gudsell of Creative Tauranga said she hoped the event would become iconic for Tauranga, with a family-friendly atmosphere encouraged with a strict no-alcohol rule.

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Midnight Youth

"Summerfest is something for us all to look forward to and come together through these hard times and have a bit of fun," she said.

The day-long festival will be held at Blake Park on Sunday, February 5. As well as the line-up of talent on two stages, there will be food stalls, children's activities, urban dance and the possibility of taking your own picnic.

Part of the celebration is Creative Tauranga's 50th birthday and a Creative Tauranga Performing Arts Scholarship launch.

The public and businesses are being invited to buy tickets to contribute to a pool of tickets which will be donated to Rena volunteers and clean-up crews, as well as the families affected by Psa disease.

Redmore grew up in Tauranga, where his parents still live, and went to Tauranga Boy's College.

Walker attended Arataki Primary School and Tamapahore Marae before his family moved to Australia. He found fame in 2009 after winning Australian Idol.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, and are designed to be 'easy on the pocket', at $20 for a family (two adults, three children), $10 youth, $5 for children and under fives are free.

Tickets available from TicketDirect.