Inaugural Mount Maunganui Waterbourne Beach Festival adapting under red light

The organiser of an inaugural water sport and music festival set to attract hundreds of athletes to Mount Maunganui next month is "devastated" to have to adapt to new red-light rules.

It comes as events such as the One Love Festival and Classics of the Sky that had the potential to attract an average of 49,000 visitors a day to the area had been cancelled.

Live Nation New Zealand yesterday announced the Benee World Tour was once more rescheduled, also citing red setting difficulties.

The Waterbourne Beach Festival planned at Mount Main Beach and Soper Reserve from March 4 to 6 was expected to bring more than 300 athletes and 10,00-plus concert-goers.

The three-day event involves the stand-up paddleboard nationals, beach volleyball championships, wing-foil racing, community beach events and two concerts.

Olympian Barbara Kendall competed in the Waterbourne festival in Auckland last year. Photo / Supplied

Waterbourne Beach Festival event organiser Laurence Carey said the event was held in Auckland last year when the city went into Covid-19 alert level 3 lockdown.

Carey said he was "devastated" to be adapting to Covid-19 restrictions again.

He said the team was looking at having "pods" of athletes compete in groups of 100 and whether to run only some of the music events, postpone or cancel altogether.
A decision would be made by next Friday.

The challenge was delivering an event under the red light setting to the standard they were proud of, he said.

"No one wants to go to an event and feel like you're in a cage."

His biggest concern was not being able to control the number of people who came down to the public area, but he said most people had been supportive of the event.

It came down to choice, he said, as to whether people want to go to an event under the red setting or not.

Carey said people were frustrated about having to get vaccinated to enjoy events, through the Government's "Two Shots for Summer" campaign, only for events to not go ahead.

"There is a lot of angst ... You can't leverage influential people and then go back on that word because it's not fair on the whole industry."

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the campaign was working, with fewer cases than expected through summer.

However, he said Omicron and its transmissibility had changed the game again.

"The Two Shots for Summer campaign was run at the end of last year in a Delta environment, where the goal was to get vaccination rates high enough to suppress the virus so that we could all enjoy our summer."

It had been targeted at younger New Zealanders to increase lower vaccination rates, he said.

Now, he said the red setting was the best defence.

He recognised the sector was facing a challenging time but said measures needed to be in place to minimise the impact of the virus and event funding support was in place.

The Rotorua A&P Association decided in December to host today's show with attendees restricted to those entered in events and one support person.

Association president Heather Brake said it was lucky the site was so spread out, and she acknowledged not all events had this option.

"There have been some competitors that have been apprehensive. It's their choice to come or not come. If they do, that's great, if they don't, that's their choice."

The Rotorua Chamber of Commerce had to postpone its business awards three times.

To be held on February 4, chief executive Bryce Heard said although it had been "manic" trying to make the event virtual for about 800-odd ticket-holders, finalists, sponsors and support people, it was "absolutely" worth it.

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said cancelled and postponed events such as the One Love Festival and Classics of the Sky had the potential to bring an average of 49,000 visitors a day to the area.

"When big events like these get cancelled, it creates a negative flow-on effect for accommodation providers, hospitality and tourism activity operators."

Early feedback from local businesses is that they want to see some continuation of events – albeit with appropriate safety measures put in place, he said.

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan. Photo / Supplied

He said staffing would be one of the biggest challenges; employers are already stretched and team members away isolating will put events at risk.

"The threat of Omicron is real, and we all have a responsibility to follow the health guidelines to reduce its impact as much as possible.

"That said, Tourism Bay of Plenty will continue to work hard to support our region as we navigate our way through these complicated times."

There were eight new Omicron cases in the Bay of Plenty yesterday, all linked to the early childhood centre BestStart Pyes Pa.

Suspected Omicron cases attended Polo in the Bay at Trustpower Baypark stadium between 1pm and 6.15pm on January 22.