Bay Dreams come true in 2016

Pato Alvarez from Pato Entertainment is excited to host a new festival over the Christmas/New Year period. Photo / Andrew Warner

A new festival will hit Mount Maunganui next year - Bay Dreams.

The news comes after it was announced last week that another festival, the McLaren Valley Music and Arts Festival, was to be relocated to Auckland.

Bay Dreams is to be held at ASB Baypark Stadium on January 2 and will feature music from hip hop, New Zealand roots and a range of electronic music across two or three stages.

The first announcement of musicians for the event has been made and features international artists including Pendulum, an Australian/British drum and bass group founded in 2002, American hip hop artist Charli 2na, as well as Kiwi acts The Black Seeds and Concord Dawn.

There was no better way to start 2016, said event organiser Pato Alvarez.

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Mr Alvarez said he always wanted to host a festival over the Christmas/New Year period in Mount Maunganui, as the Bay was a great summer destination.

"We get [thousands of] extra people through summertime and they all want something to do, so we are giving them what they want."

Locals had been getting excited for the festival, he said.

"We have Pendulum coming to Tauranga. They are a top-of-the-line act and they are coming to the Bay, they are huge."

Mr Alvarez said he was hoping to get between 5000 and 6000 concert-goers to Bay Dreams in its first year and turn it into an annual event.

The next announcement for the festival would be in early November, "which would be as big as the first one", while ticket sales had already started, he said. "It's going to be big, we can't wait. We have been working hard on a daily basis to deliver an awesome event."

A Bay Venues spokesperson said the festival was booked and would go ahead pending consents being approved.

Line-up (first release)

DJ Premier
Pendulum (DJ Set and Verse)
Chali 2NA (Jurassic 5) & The House of Vibe
The Black Seeds
Homebrew
Drax Project
L.A.B (Kora Brothers)
Concord Dawn
Virtual Riot
Barely Alive
Dodge and Fuski
Astronaut
Dubloadz