St Patrick's Day in the Bay has been reinvigorated.

Saturday March 17, earlier known as Neil Diamond day - then tragically the day the music died - has now morphed into Napier Rocks Saturday.

In the wake of the Mission Concert failure Napier City Council and Hawke's Bay Tourism have come off the bench and filled a gaping hole in the concert calendar.

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said council was stoked to swing into action.

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"When the Mission Concert was cancelled we felt it was important that we, as a city, offer some entertainment to those visitors still travelling here for the weekend".

It's a welcome move from council and Hawke's Bay Tourism. No doubt the city has missed out on some funds due to the Diamond cancellation - so this is a nice way to maybe recoup some of that, but more importantly to fill a void that traditionally has locals in a beautiful summer haze.

And the ring-in acts aren't too shabby.

Jason Kerrison, Op Shop's frontman and one of this country's genuine good guys, is top billing while Shane Cortese and The 8-Track Band and local artists Mixtape will also feature.

To boot, Kerrison will be covering some Neil Diamond classics. "We decided we're going to do quite a few Neil Diamond songs because we think a lot of people would have been there to see him obviously," Kerrison said.

Nice work council for refusing to let a good crisis go to waste.