Northland news in brief: Superstars at music fest, tsunami siren testing, car-free day and more

Jamaican superstar Shaggy will headline the two-day Bay of Islands Music Festival in January.

Superstars for festival

Jamaican superstar Shaggy will headline the two-day Bay of Islands Music Festival in January. The festival has been expanded to two days - January 25 and 26 - to accommodate the stellar line-up. Also confirmed to play are reggae legends Toots and the Maytals, NZ rock icons Shihad, Blindspott, the Black Seeds and Northland band Otium. The festival will be at Waitangi Sports Grounds opposite the entry to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

Tsunami siren testing

Northland's network of more than 200 outdoor tsunami sirens throughout the region will be tested on the morning of Sunday, September 29. The siren network is checked twice a year, coinciding with the start and finish of daylight saving. Sirens from Te Hapua in the north to Mangawhai in the south and Ruawai in the west will sound twice, firstly at 10am for 10 minutes and then again at 10.30am for 30 seconds, and will be monitored for any faults.

Car-Free Day

New community group Our Kerikeri is encouraging townsfolk to mark International Car-Free Day by leaving their cars at home and cycling or walking to work this Friday. Residents who live too far from town to travel all the way under their own steam can leave their cars at the Packhouse Market and walk or ride from there. The group is organising other "park and walk/ride" zones; check the OurKerikeri Facebook page for updates. Organisers say the intention is to "make the mind shift from our reliance on cars, so we stop planning our community around traffic flows and plan it around social and physical wellbeing instead". Car Free Day is on September 22 but is being celebrated in Northland on Friday.

Rugby tickets up for grabs

The Northern Advocate has two general admission tickets to give away ahead of Northland Rugby's first ever double-header featuring Northland's Farah Palmer Cup team and Mitre 10 Cup team on Sunday afternoon at Semenoff Stadium. The Kauri (women's team) take on North Harbour at 2.05pm before the Taniwha take on Bay of Plenty at 4.35pm. To go into the draw, email us on sports@northernadvocate.co.nz and tell us why you want to be at the historic double-header. Entries close at midday tomorrow. Those who enter must be able to pick up the tickets at our office, at 88 Robert St, between 12pm and 4pm tomorrow.