Rotorua Rugby Mud Festival preview

Mud, mud and more geothermal mud will be flying when the Rotorua Rugby Mud Festival kicks off this weekend.

The event is organised by Hell's Gate and is aimed at getting people involved in various activities celebrating the region's geothermal and cultural activity.

The Rotorua Rugby Mud Festival runs over two weekends, September 17-18 and 24-25.

Hell's Gate is celebrating the launch of the event with a Celebrity v Hell's Gate tug of war in the mud.

Those visiting Hell's Gate will also be able to take part in the games on offer including mud rugby, mud tug of war, mud scrum, mud volleyball and, for the little ones, there will be a game of stuck - literally - in the mud.

Spokeswoman for the event Jenha White said the white mud at Hell's Gate would also be dyed into a rainbow of colours for a mud rugby jersey body painting competition.

She said those taking part had the extra bonus of the mud having incredible skin rejuvenating properties.

"There will also be an All Black rugby jersey signature series limited edition collection of 19 All Black rugby jerseys from 1996 through to 2009 with All Black signatures framed on display at Hell's Gate," she said.

"The various jerseys within the collection have worldwide restricted releases ranging from 100 to 600 editions."

Ms White said for those who wanted to learn more about Maori culture, they would be able to embrace interactive carving, weaving and haka lessons, as well as getting a ta moko face painting.

The Rotorua Rugby Mud Festival will be running from 10am to 4pm each day.

"It is a unique opportunity to get muddy and embrace rugby in an environment like no other," Ms White said.