Bic, Brooke and Benny on Winery Tour

The Winery Tour is returning to Whangarei next year and will feature, from left, Brooke Fraser, Bic Runga and Benny Tipene.

The popular Winery Tour is returning to Whangarei next year after a break, but the need for a bigger venue has seen the concert move from Tutukaka to Toll Stadium.

The Winery Tour had been held the Tutukaka Marina Reserve in February since 2010 - when Tim Finn, Bic Runga and Dave Dobbyn took to the stage - attracting a crowd of up to 3000, but it was not held there the past two years.

However, the tour will return to Whangarei on February 5, with the headliners Bic Runga, Brooke Fraser and Benny Tipene, at Toll Stadium.

Winery Tour co-promoter said it was simply the need for a larger space that saw the tour move into town.

"We're excited to be returning to Northland. Tutukaka was a great place to play but we're limited in capacity there, and we wanted to grow the show so Toll Stadium is a great venue and we're really looking forward to the show," Smith said.

Toll Stadium has a much larger capacity than Tutukaka's 3000 limit.

Smith said the next year will be the 10th anniversary of the Winery Tour and it was exciting to have two of New Zealand's most successful artists of all time, in Fraser and Runga, and exciting newcomer Tipene.

Fraser and Runga have each won the APRA silver scroll for Song of the Year, been awarded a total of 32 NZ music awards between them, and have combined catalogue sales of more than 650,000 albums in NZ alone , with 21 top 40 singles.

Their songs are woven into the very fabric of New Zealand life: Something in the Water, Sway, Better, Drive, Arithmetic, Something Good, Shadowfeet, Get Some Sleep, Deciphering Me and many, many more.

Los Angeles-based Fraser will return home to headline the tour, following the release of her first career retrospective album A Sides, which includes her next single Therapy.

"The Winery Tour is quite simply a dream to play, there is no better way to tour New Zealand. I am looking forward to getting home to play all the favourites from my career so far to the best fans in the world," Fraser said.

Having played on the very first Winery Tour back in 2007, Runga returns to the tour once again.

"I'm excited to rejoin the Winery Tour family, to hit the road again and to play all my songs and some of my favourite covers in the most spectacular venues," Runga said.

For ticket information see The Winery Tour website www.winerytour.co.nz.