New Year’s Eve in Rotorua - what you need to know

Aerial photo of Rotorua City. Photo / Andrew Warner

Rotorua may have lost its traditional New Year’s Eve GLO Festival but fine weather and a family-friendly market are on offer in the city instead.

The New Year’s Eve festival - which started in 2012 - is being discontinued due to “escalating costs and declining public satisfaction,” according to Rotorua Lakes Council.

The event was last held in 2019, with the 2020 and 2021 events cancelled due to Covid-19.

However, a New Year’s Eve Whanau Market will be held in Tutanekai St from 5pm to 10pm with live music, dancer and food vendors.

In Tauranga, thousands are expected to attend multiple events and festivals around the city.

A Metservice meteorologist said the Bay of Plenty may “be one of the better places to be” with good weather to bring in the new year.

It will be sunny skies in Rotorua to say goodbye to 2022 with temperatures to reach around 23C with minimal winds, and a possible afternoon lake breeze with a few clouds in the evening.

The new year will have a sunny start with a few clouds moving through occasionally, and the southeast winds will bring slightly cooler temperatures of around 21C.

Sea temperatures for the weekend remain close to 21C and an easterly to northeasterly swell of half a metre is expected, she said.

“The Bay of Plenty might be one of the better places to be where temperatures are not too hot, winds not too strong and there’s not too much cloud around.”

Police have said additional staff will be on the ground, including in both Tauranga and Rotorua, and there will be increased road patrols.

Anyone heading to Mount Maunganui is warned that two major roads will be closed for Bay Dreams.

In Rotorua, alcohol bans applied to several areas in Rotorua, including a CBD ban which includes Kuirau Pak, Rotorua Central and the Lakefront and Government Gardens. Most parks and reserves also have bans, as do areas around the Kawaha Point, Koutu, Mt View Drive, Pleasant Heights, Selwyn Heights and Western Heights shopping centres.

Most streets in Ohinemutu also have an alcohol ban in place.