Soundsplash festival begins to hum
Excited teenagers were the first flush of festivalgoers to arrive yesterday for the inaugural Timaru Soundsplash music festival.
About 20 tents had been erected at Caroline Bay before the gates to the stages opened at 1.30pm – the first day of the three-day festival featuring a mix of more than 40 New Zealand and international acts on four different stages.
Soundsplash promoter Sam Heath told The Timaru Herald everything was going well with 800 festival tickets sold over the past week, bringing the total up to about 2500. The initial target had been 4000 ticket sales.
However, he was not concerned as Timaru people were notorious for buying tickets at the last minute, he said.
Door sales were ‘‘humming’’ and he anticipated that would continue.
Predicted highs of 21 degrees Celsius today and 22C tomorrow were also pleasing, he said.
The festival’s security plan included preventing any intoxicated music fans from getting in the water at Caroline Bay, as well as hourly patrols.
Heath began his event organising career in Timaru at the Old Mill in 2011 with local musicians and went on to run the young party venue, The Cube. Now he runs music events all around the country.
It is his cautious approach that seems to have appealed to parents allowing their teenage children to attend the three-day festival on their own.
The strict health and safety protocols left a group of Otago high school students without a hammer to get their tent pegs set up when it was confiscated at the gate. Eventually they found a rubber mallet they borrowed from organisers in exchange for handing over their ID to ensure its return.
Phaedra Love, 16, said she had wanted to go camping without her parents so Soundsplash seemed to be the perfect family-friendly event with good music .
‘‘I’m looking forward to seeing Stan
Walker because I’m interested because my Nana always used to play [his songs] when I was about six or seven.’’
Singer songwriter Mitch James was a drawcard for Ashburton College student, Katie Daniels, 17.
Rangiora High School student Jessie MItchell, 17, said it was the first festival she was allowed to go to because many others had age limits. She and her friends were looking forward to seeing Peking Duk.
Ricki Wilson and Kelly McIlraith from Dunedin, both in their 20s, said they had come because it was a good lineup of artists and the weather was warmer.
Day two of the festival begins at 3pm today.