About 6000 people are expected to camp at the festival, and about 40 per cent of festivalgoers are believed to be travelling there from other regions.
"The high vaccination rates in Otago really gave us a lot of encouragement, but mainly we stuck to NZ Music, and didn't rely on the borders and didn't rely on international artists to complete our programme," Turnbull said.
However, there were losses to the line-up, as a result of problems caused by the pandemic.
Sampa the Great was not able to leave South Africa as all flights were cancelled, and Harriet Jaxxon, Lenzman, CC:Disco!, and Bradley Zero weren't able to get MIQ rooms to enter New Zealand.
Nevertheless, Turnbull said he was proud of the mostly Kiwi line-up, that would support New Zealand music.
The first day of Rhythm and Alps music festival has kicked off in the Cardrona Valley. Photo / George Heard
Drug-checking at some festivals
While drug-checking services are now legal at festivals, high demand and low equipment stock has meant some festivals are going without.
Know Your Stuff has experienced high demand as it puts on drug-testing pop-ups across the country this month.
Managing director Wendy Allison said gathering test results had given an insight into what was out there.
"Eutylone, which is the substance that was causing most of the trouble last year, is still around. It doesn't seem to be in quite as much quantity [as last year]," Allison said.
"There are a couple of new cathinones that have been detected in the last couple of months and just in the last couple of weeks as the MDMA pills are reappearing."
