NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Inaugural Mount Maunganui Waterbourne Beach Festival adapting under red light

Laura Smith
By Laura Smith
Local Democracy Reporter·Bay of Plenty Times·
29 Jan, 2022 08:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

All you need to know about the new mask-wearing protocol as Omicron cases increase and the country settles into the orange setting of the traffic light system. Video / NZ Herald

The organiser of an inaugural water sport and music festival set to attract hundreds of athletes to Mount Maunganui next month is "devastated" to have to adapt to new red-light rules.

It comes as events such as the One Love Festival and Classics of the Sky that had the potential to attract an average of 49,000 visitors a day to the area had been cancelled.

Live Nation New Zealand yesterday announced the Benee World Tour was once more rescheduled, also citing red setting difficulties.

The Waterbourne Beach Festival planned at Mount Main Beach and Soper Reserve from March 4 to 6 was expected to bring more than 300 athletes and 10,00-plus concert-goers.

The three-day event involves the stand-up paddleboard nationals, beach volleyball championships, wing-foil racing, community beach events and two concerts.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Olympian Barbara Kendall competed in the Waterbourne festival in Auckland last year. Photo / Supplied
Olympian Barbara Kendall competed in the Waterbourne festival in Auckland last year. Photo / Supplied

Waterbourne Beach Festival event organiser Laurence Carey said the event was held in Auckland last year when the city went into Covid-19 alert level 3 lockdown.

Carey said he was "devastated" to be adapting to Covid-19 restrictions again.

He said the team was looking at having "pods" of athletes compete in groups of 100 and whether to run only some of the music events, postpone or cancel altogether.
A decision would be made by next Friday.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The challenge was delivering an event under the red light setting to the standard they were proud of, he said.

"No one wants to go to an event and feel like you're in a cage."

His biggest concern was not being able to control the number of people who came down to the public area, but he said most people had been supportive of the event.

It came down to choice, he said, as to whether people want to go to an event under the red setting or not.

Carey said people were frustrated about having to get vaccinated to enjoy events, through the Government's "Two Shots for Summer" campaign, only for events to not go ahead.

"There is a lot of angst ... You can't leverage influential people and then go back on that word because it's not fair on the whole industry."

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the campaign was working, with fewer cases than expected through summer.

However, he said Omicron and its transmissibility had changed the game again.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The Two Shots for Summer campaign was run at the end of last year in a Delta environment, where the goal was to get vaccination rates high enough to suppress the virus so that we could all enjoy our summer."

It had been targeted at younger New Zealanders to increase lower vaccination rates, he said.

Now, he said the red setting was the best defence.

He recognised the sector was facing a challenging time but said measures needed to be in place to minimise the impact of the virus and event funding support was in place.

The Rotorua A&P Association decided in December to host today's show with attendees restricted to those entered in events and one support person.

Association president Heather Brake said it was lucky the site was so spread out, and she acknowledged not all events had this option.

"There have been some competitors that have been apprehensive. It's their choice to come or not come. If they do, that's great, if they don't, that's their choice."

The Rotorua Chamber of Commerce had to postpone its business awards three times.

To be held on February 4, chief executive Bryce Heard said although it had been "manic" trying to make the event virtual for about 800-odd ticket-holders, finalists, sponsors and support people, it was "absolutely" worth it.

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan said cancelled and postponed events such as the One Love Festival and Classics of the Sky had the potential to bring an average of 49,000 visitors a day to the area.

"When big events like these get cancelled, it creates a negative flow-on effect for accommodation providers, hospitality and tourism activity operators."

Early feedback from local businesses is that they want to see some continuation of events – albeit with appropriate safety measures put in place, he said.

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan. Photo / Supplied
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan. Photo / Supplied

He said staffing would be one of the biggest challenges; employers are already stretched and team members away isolating will put events at risk.

"The threat of Omicron is real, and we all have a responsibility to follow the health guidelines to reduce its impact as much as possible.

"That said, Tourism Bay of Plenty will continue to work hard to support our region as we navigate our way through these complicated times."

There were eight new Omicron cases in the Bay of Plenty yesterday, all linked to the early childhood centre BestStart Pyes Pa.

Suspected Omicron cases attended Polo in the Bay at Trustpower Baypark stadium between 1pm and 6.15pm on January 22.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Kiwi killed by elephant 'an inspiration' for community, farewell planned for next month

09 Jul 07:00 AM
New Zealand

'Hardly seems a priority': Greens react to moa de-extinction plans

09 Jul 06:00 AM
New Zealand

'Looked pretty serious': Accident closes Hamilton intersection

09 Jul 05:29 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Kiwi killed by elephant 'an inspiration' for community, farewell planned for next month

Kiwi killed by elephant 'an inspiration' for community, farewell planned for next month

09 Jul 07:00 AM

Alison Taylor, 67, died in Zambia alongside relative Easton Janet Taylor, 68.

'Hardly seems a priority': Greens react to moa de-extinction plans

'Hardly seems a priority': Greens react to moa de-extinction plans

09 Jul 06:00 AM
'Looked pretty serious': Accident closes Hamilton intersection

'Looked pretty serious': Accident closes Hamilton intersection

09 Jul 05:29 AM
Fresh school holiday measles scare as infected people visit supermarket, library

Fresh school holiday measles scare as infected people visit supermarket, library

09 Jul 05:16 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP