Juicy Fest 2024 will not return to Te Tai Tokerau despite immense popularity

Juicy Fest was hugely popular in January this year, held at Whangārei's Semenoff Stadium. Photo / Tania Whyte

It looks like a spine-tingling haka didn’t go quite far enough for Juicy Fest organisers, as the hip-hop and R&B music festival will not be returning to Te Tai Tokerau in 2024.

Around 8000 people attended this year’s Juicy Fest on January 11 in Whangārei at Northland Events Centre (Semenoff Stadium), with the crown performing a mass haka for the artists as their tour of Aotearoa New Zealand ended.

It was dubbed by some attendees as the “best night” of their lives, featuring a lineup of Grammy-award-winning artists including Ne-Yo, Nelly and Mýa.

Excited fans, many coming form outside the district. had lined the streets outside the stadium from 9am that morning to see the line-up of world-renowned artists perform.

At the time of the event, Juicy Fest Promoter Glenn Meikle said the Te Tai Tokerau was offered a concert so that the location would reach more audiences and boost the local economy.

Punters had lined the streets outside Semenoff Stadium early in the day. Photo / Tania Whyte

In a new statement, Meikle said organisers were “thrilled” to have offered a high calibre of international artists to Whangārei in 2023, however, they have made the decision to offer the festival at more centralised locations in 2024.

“When planning for the very first Juicy Fest our aim was to ensure the festival was widely accessible. This continues to be a goal for 2024 and beyond,” said Meikle.

“Since our inaugural event, we’ve made some changes, which have been based on feedback, accessibility, support and more, all aimed at improving the festival experience for attendees.”

The locations for Juicy Fest 2024 will be Christchurch, Wellington, Tauranga and Auckland.

“We believe these locations cover the South Island as well as the lower, central and upper regions of the North Island the fairest,” said Meikle.

“We would love to add more shows to the tour but logistically that’s not possible at this time. However, that’s not to say we can’t include more locations in future festivals.”