Thousands attend music festivals and events in New Zealand

Thousands of festival go-ers attended live music events in New Zealand over the new year.

While most of the globe remains on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, festivals and events during the festive period took place across New Zealand, with 20,000 people attending Gisborne’s Rhythm and Vine Festival alone.

The country closed its borders and adhered to strict lockdown measures early on in the pandemic, and currently have fewer than 100 active cases of COVID-19 nationwide. 

Elsewhere in NZ, another non-socially distanced, 10,000-person event took place in Wanaka on NZ’s south island, featuring performances from Chaos in the CBD and Six60, with a festival in Mangawhai also holding a three-day celebration across the New Year period.

Following the border closures back in March 2020, New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the extreme measures had been taken “for the health of the country, and our people.”

(Pictured: Rhythm & Alps Festival – ingmar wein photography)

In the UK, the organisers of Glastonbury Festival have called for “direct financial support” from the government amid ongoing difficulties in obtaining live events cancellation insurance for this summer’s event.

Last summer, a documentary about the impact of coronavirus on electronic music was produced and released by Pioneer DJ.