Bay Dreams, pictured in 2021, has been held at Baypark in Mount Maunganui since 2016. Photo / George Novak
Bay Dreams, pictured in 2021, has been held at Baypark in Mount Maunganui since 2016. Photo / George Novak
Summer music festival Bay Dreams is leaving Mercury Baypark in Mount Maunganui for the first time since the event’s inception in 2016.
An organiser says the new venue has a smaller capacity but will have more shade, shorter queues, and a more “premium offering”.
Director of Audiology Touring and BayDreams organiser Mitch Lowe said the music festival will be held at Wharepai Domain in the Tauranga CBD on January 3.
He said the new venue was “slightly downsized”.
About 15,000 people attended this year’s festival, headlined by American DJ Diplo, at Trustpower Baypark on January 3, which had a limit of 18,000 tickets. Before Covid-19, the festival could sell out the venue.
Lowe said he hoped to reach a capacity of 12,000 people for the Wharepai Domain event.
“It’s a premium offering that we’re going for.
“Festivals aren’t just music - it’s the way you make someone feel on the day. And you can have the best artist in the world playing but if you don’t have access to a toilet, then your day’s ruined.”
He said for many years, the festival had been about “being the biggest”.
“And now we’re truly focused on it being the best.”
He said the decisions were based on “customer experience”.
“It’s not about how big the event is. It’s how much fun they have and the access that they have to, not just the venue, but through the queues for the bars, the toilets — the actual experience itself.
“Yes, we got those big numbers but it came with choke points, it came with the sort of nuances that involved around 30,000 people trying to get into a site in the past, and lines and queues and lack of shade.”
Lowe said the company had delivered many successful events at tree-lined Wharepai Domain and it loved the location, the shade and the “easy access”.
“We love Baypark… but you can imagine the infrastructure… and the roadworks that are going on, we were always jumping hurdles basically to deliver a large-scale event.
The venue is near the major Baypark to Bayfair Link highway roadworks that started in 2015 and, after multiple delays, were due to finish in December this year.
He said Wharepai Domain was a “natural fit” for a new venue.
The Black Seeds perform at the One Love festival in Wharepai Domain in 2021. Photo / Andrew Warner
“It’s not going to be how people have experienced it in the past. We’ve actually applied for an extension - we’re going right out under the trees and through the back.
“If things go crazy and it sells out, we can find options to expand. We’re definitely more focused on delivering the best event.”
Lowe said the line-up will be released in mid-August, with tickets going on sale seven to 10 days later.
In the South Island, Bay Dreams South will be moving to Queenstown for 2024 and beyond, after five years in Nelson.
Tauranga City Council venue and events manager Nelita Byrne said its events team would assist organisers to ensure Bay Dreams had appropriate traffic management, waste minimisation, external environment security and “all other appropriate event operations required” for a successful event at Wharepai Domain.
“We’re working with the organisers on their plans for Wharepai Domain and look forward to another great event in this much-loved city centre venue.”
Wharepai Domain has previously hosted the One Love festival, among other events and concerts.
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.
Correction
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the Bay Dreams festival in January had a limit of 30,000 tickets. The festival this year had a limit of 18,000 tickets.
