At least 1500 people of the 19,000 expected at the One Love festival at the Tauranga Domain this weekend will be travelling from overseas.
Organiser of the two-day festival, which is in its fourth year, Pato Alvarez said 1500 of the tickets sold to the event were sold overseas. The majority were from Australia but tickets were also sold in Hawaii, America, France, Germany and the Pacific Islands including Fiji, Rarotonga, Samoa and Vanuatu.
He said 15 per cent of the about 19,000 people expected were from Tauranga and the rest came from out of town, which helped boost the local economy.
"Everyone gets a slice of it."
One Love is just one of the many big events in Tauranga this Auckland Anniversary Weekend, with the ENZED 2018 Jetsprints Stadium Cup from 5pm-10pm today and the Black Caps v Pakistan cricket match at Bay Oval on Sunday among the others.
To run a successful event, Alvarez said it took a good team and most of those involved with this year's reggae festival had worked over the last four events. Between 30 and 50 people were involved in the lead-up and 600-700 worked onsite over the two days.
"It's awesome, 80 per cent of our team repeats, we know each other, we know what to do."
With temperatures tipped to be in the high 20s today and tomorrow, Alvarez encouraged people to stay hydrated, wear suitable clothing and bring a good vibe.
He said a medical team would be onsite, sunblock would be available and plenty of water stations would be on offer,
Alvarez said he and his team were excited for people to see what they had been working on and an "awesome weekend of unity".
"We're keen to show New Zealand that the reggae music in this country is so popular."
Alvarez organised a lot of events in Tauranga and New Zealand but One Love had the "best vibe" because of the good energy from festival-goers.
A total of 400 tickets would be sold at the door but were expected to sell fast.