Hootnanny Country Rock Festival coming to Thames

Andrea Ross and Noddy Watts are bringing the Hootnanny three day festival to Thames. Photo / Supplied

Get your 'yeeha' on Thames - a Hootnanny country rock party is coming in February and it's going to be a hoot.

Think cowboy boots and hats, chequered shirts, pulled pork and smoked ribs, the Hootnanny country music festival will feature New Zealand's best performers and a big rig parade down the mainstreet of Thames to its venue at the racecourse.

Noddy Watts and partner Andrea Ross, the couple behind the Repco Beach Hop, have gone back to their Thames roots to create the three-day festival of country rock.

Beach Hop has brought hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders together for an annual rock and roll festival in March and Noddy has been nominated for Event Professional of the Year at the New Zealand Event Association for Repco Beach Hop.

Facing another year of no travel for their business Kiwis on Route 66 Tours, they say it's a brave move to launch a new event but are looking forward with enthusiasm.

"We had to think of what we were going to do and thought 'what's Noddy good at? And this is it," says Andrea.

"It is a brave move in these current days," says Noddy. "But we're confident with the vaccination rollout that we'll be through the worst by then and we're six months from Hootnanny.

"The response to our website has been fantastic."

The couple have spent many nights in Nashville, US, and say they hope one day when borders reopen to bring international acts over to join the New Zealand musicians.

A line-up of New Zealand's best country rock performers are booked, monster truck displays, a car and truck show, tractor pulling displays, free carnival rides, country dancing, and country farmers' market, vendors and food trucks are among the entertainment from Friday, February 25 until Sunday afternoon.

They want Thames folk to get in quick with tickets to the event at the Thames Racecourse, saying they expect they will sell out.

"We've got a passion for this and it won't surprise me if it's the biggest country-based event in New Zealand in year one," says Noddy, who grew up and was schooled in Thames.

"We're telling Thames people, 'get your tickets because you don't want to miss out'."

People can pre-register for tickets for an early release on September 6 with prices at $65 an adult for the three days or $80 for a family of three kids, mum and dad.

"We know times are tough so wanted to keep it as affordable as possible."

Limited on-site camping can be booked for Friday and Saturday night and free shuttles will run from Thames township.

Other events include a lawnmower race, big rig truck show, freestyle moto x and monster truck displays, an automotive swap meet and free carnival rides once you are through the gate.

Noddy said the Thames residents around the racecourse had been very supportive as had the Thames Business Association, Thames-Coromandel District Council and Destination Coromandel.

"We want to create an event that puts Thames on the map. That's where I grew up and went to school, and we've got strong family connections to Thames.

"Hootnanny goes back to Irish Celtic heritage and means 'country party' and this is going to go off."