Local music festival Soundsplash have announced they will be changing venues from their usual home at Wainui Reserve to Mystery Creek for next year’s event.
Facing a number of uncertainties in terms of changing Covid rules and regulations, the organisers said that without a venue change, Soundsplash was facing cancellation.
“Raglan is the roots of Soundsplash and this was not a decision we took lightly. However, this move is a necessity for Soundsplash to go ahead in 2022,” said festival organiser Brian Ruawai.
With the traffic light system kicking into play on December 3 and vaccine passes mandated for large-scale events, Mystery Creek offers 114 hectares to manage any safety measures that Soundsplash may have to incorporate.
Waikato started the traffic light system at ‘orange’ which means that Soundsplash can go ahead without restrictions on numbers but would still need to incorporate other public health protocols.
“The spatial requirements needed to process attendees are very uncertain.
We have a new CVC passport being implemented that has not yet been tested on events or mass gatherings.
“In other words, we don’t know what to plan for and can only anticipate those breakdowns to solve. What we do know is that we don’t have the space available to have a 2, 3 or even 4-step check-in process,” says Brian.
In terms of returning to Raglan, the team says this venue change had to happen for Soundsplash to go ahead in 2022.
“We hope to return to Raglan in the future when restrictions are lifted and it is safer for us to do so,” said Brian.
With the decision signed off, the organisers are now looking at delivering the same Soundsplash vibe and experience at Mystery Creek and hope to develop some new and exciting activations. The team is still ironing out some of the finer details and will continue to update ticketholders through email and social media.
“We’re excited to still be able to deliver the event as this was in question with the logistical challenges of holding big events in a Covid world,” says Brian, adding that all systems were now all go – and they are forging ahead with a lineup announcement and gearing up to deliver an epic festival.
As the rest of Whāingaroa prepares for a busy summer ahead under the traffic light system, uncertainty and safety reasons have led to the cancellation of a number of local events including the New Year’s fireworks display and the New Year’s Eve parade.
Over in Tairāwhiti, the annual 3-day festival Rhythm and Vines has been postponed to Easter 2022 – the first time in its 19 year history that it has been rescheduled.
