The Top 5 New Zealand Festivals

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at 3:55 am

Each year, New Zealand hosts more than 300 different arts, music, food and other-themed festivals which attract natives and international visitors alike. A significant proportion of these festivals (40+) are held in the month of February which is known as festival season in the country and as such, many travellers will book their NZ holiday/s to coincide with this time. However, as a regular visitor of New Zealand I have attended more than a handful of ‘Zealand’s festivals and I can tell you that not all of the best ones are held during the second month of the year!

If you ever plan on taking New Zealand holidays then these are – in no particular order – the top five festivals I would really recommend that you check out.

‘Big Day Out’ Music Festival

January

Big Day Out is a heavy metal, rock, hip hop and electronic music festival. The event was first held in the year of 1992 in Australia’s most populous city; Sydney and its success has seen the festival tour to several other locations in Australia each year (Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth), in addition to New Zealand’s largest city; Auckland. The incredible success of the event is perhaps attributable to the fact that grunge-legends Nirvana were included on the ’92 bill and a couple of months before the festival their album Nevermind became an international smash hit.

Just a handful of the other bands that have graced the stages of Big Day Out since its conception include System of a Down, Limp Bizkit, The Ramones, Rage Against The Machine, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, Rammstein, Tool, The Prodigy and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

As lovers of alternative music (and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds who played the first time we went), it was almost guaranteed that my then-fiancé and I would absolutely love BDO. This year the festival welcomes My Chemical Romance, Kasabian, Soundgarden and more.

Luminate Festival

February

Established in 2007, the Luminate Festival is an event celebrating the ancient summer harvest festival of Lughnasadgh (this lies between summer solstice and the autumn equinox) through the presentation of dance, art and musical performances that are best enjoyed at night when it is dark. The festival encourages the enlightenment of the soul and the connecting of people by presenting attendees with activities such as indulging in a massage, joining fireside drum circles, watching enlightening open-air movies, poi, juggling, yoga, circus skills and dance workshops, meditation sessions…the list is very extensive!

What my man and I enjoyed most about this festival is the fact that it was so inclusive of everyone. No matter then genre of music a person is into, they will surely find something at the Luminate Festival to entertain them; world music, dubstep, folk, RnB, House, Reggae, psytrance, ambient, soul – it’s all covered!

The festival also prides itself of its eco-friendly nature and there are many stalls there which can provide information on reduces ones carbon footprint. There aren’t even any bins on the festival site – all attendees are expected to take away every bit of rubbish away with them that they are responsible for!

The New Zealand Chocolate Festival

August

There a few people in this world who do not completely adore the sweet treat that is chocolate. As an aficionado of the brown stuff myself, I just had to check out the first ever New Zealand Chocolate Festival – hosted by the five-star Hotel InterContinental – when I was in Wellington with my husband last year.

Not only did we indulge ourselves by getting involved in the festivals’ ‘chocBuds’ tasting sessions (which included a very strange curry and papadum flavoured chocolate!) but we also saw several of New Zealand’s elite chocolatiers prepare inventive cocoa treats right before our very eyes. We also enjoyed a five course chocolate – yet oddly enough; savoury – dinner (not included in the ticket cost) and more than a couple of chocolate based alcoholic tipples! It goes without saying that plenty of chocolate stalls (and free samples!) were also present at the event.

Tickets for the second Chocolate Festival later this year are in high demand due to the restricted number of attendees allowed. Try to acquire your tickets as early as possible in order to avoid disappointment.

Wanganui Festival of Glass

September

I never realised that glass was such an interesting material until my other half and I decided to attend the Wanganui Festival of Glass on a whim back in 2009. The ten day long festival was first held in 2007 and its glass blowing competitions and demonstrations, auctions, stalls, free exhibitions, kiln casting demos, pate de verre (AKA; powdered glass art) workshops, glass painting and jewellery and bead making classes (and much more besides!) has ensured the events’ popularity has continued to grow as each year passes by. The festival was launched to help promote Wanganui as a leader in the art form.

Bead making is one of the (very fun!) activities that I turned my own hand to whilst in attendance and I used the small, smooth turquoise-blue ones I created to make a gorgeous bracelet which I still wear to this day. One of our favourite demonstrations was no doubt the student in-the-dark glass blowing – wow!

This year’s line up includes more than 40 glass artists, educators, students and supporters of glass-based art including local glass legend Carmen Simmonds.

NZ Tattoo and Art Festival

November

Anybody with a love of body modification should definitely attend the New Plymouth NZ Tattoo and Art Festival. The event is relatively new, having only been established in the year of 2010.

The festival not only welcomes some of the world’s most established tattooists (this year’s bill includes Dan Smith of High Voltage/TV’s LA Ink fame, as well as London’s Nikole Lowe and Sabado from Eccentric Super Tattoo in Japan) but also presents a wide variety of stage performers, live music, skateboard auctions, non-skin-embedded art displays (for example; graffiti demonstrations), competitions and endless stalls selling alternative apparel and accessories. This means that there is enough going on to ensure that even those who do not have a penchant for marking their own body are left wholly entertained.

When my partner and I went to the event in 2010, neither of us got tattooed but we did both get new piercings (a nose ring for me and a second lip hoop for the hubby). It should be noted that age restrictions apply despite the festival environment (18 years for tattoos and 16 years for body piercing).

Kat Whitmarsh is the author of this guest post. Kat is travelling to several countries this year and plans to take three different New Zealand tours in 2012.