Downtown Tauranga buzzing during the Jazz Festival. Photo / Supplied
Tauranga's annual Jazz Festival has shaken off last year's Covid cancellation and returned to bring music, dancing and good vibes to the city's sunny streets.
The festival led a line-up of Easter sports, arts and community events in the city that, coupled with good weather, saw accomodation providers booked out at the last moment and CBDs in downtown and Mount Maunganui "bustling".
The busy long weekend comes ahead of news due today of the Government's plans for a transtasman travel bubble with Australia.
National Jazz Festival manager Marc Anderson said it had been a "really good weekend", starting on Wednesday with "more youth bands from around the country than ever before" at the Youth Competition and Youth Jazz Jam.
The TECT Jazz Village was set up in the Historic Village on Friday which Anderson said was "brilliant", getting people up and dancing in the sunshine to a range of jazz genres.
"It was packed, great music ... there was something for everyone."
The high standard of musicianship extended to the performances at the Bay Court, he said, and he noted how the CBD "came alive".
"In Tauranga, we're very lucky to have a festival like this."
He said the longevity of the festival, the standard and diversity of the music and bands, and the sunshine were all key in the success of the weekend.
He credited the combined efforts of the organisers and performers who made it happen, the Tauranga City Council making the process easy, and local business helping out to accommodate, feed and entertain the influx of people in the city.
Astrolabe Brewbar manager Zac Levesna said the weekend was, overall, "better than expected".
Levesna said the Mount Maunganui mainstreet bar had seen a "good influx" of people, which would help out as the busy season started to quiet down.
He hoped the momentum of the long weekend would spill into this week.
Hospitality NZ accommodation sector Bay of Plenty chairman and 850 Cameron Motel owner Tony Bullot said everything, everywhere was fully booked from Thursday.
He said there were rooms available each day but they quickly got snapped up as visitors decided to head to the city for the long weekend.
He said international tourists would usually book months in advance but Kiwis tended to wait until the last minute to make a booking. In his opinion, this was out of fear of Covid alert levels changing.
Bullot said having a lot of events on played a big part in keeping the city busy.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said judging by the traffic, the city was full of visitors.
"The Mount was bustling and the city centre really celebrated the 58th Jazz Festival. There was a good vibe around the city."
He said the long weekend marked the end of the peak summer tourist season in the Western Bay.
"It's important for tourism, accommodation and hospitality businesses to replenish their cash reserves to keep the lights on during the quieter winter months."
He said many hoped the upcoming school holidays would give our tourism businesses another good bump to make up for the absence of international tourists.
Hospitality NZ Bay of Plenty manager Alan Sciascia said it was a good weekend for Tauranga, helped by the Jazz Festival and stellar weather.
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said there was generally a boost in spending over long weekends, with the good weather and events like the Jazz Festival and cricket helping a lot.
"It's especially good to see the CBD really busy over the last few days."
Between 200 and 300 spectators headed to the Bay Oval to watch Australia beat the White Ferns in the first of three one-day internationals at the venue in the coming days.
Tauranga's Baypark Speedway brought in 80 competitors for a well-attended one-night meet to cap off the 16-event season on Saturday and the venue was transformed into a drum and bass concert on Sunday.