Heavy rain warnings put a dampener on holiday plans
The rain was set to fall, but the show must go on as far as Bay Dreams festival organisers were concerned.
A number of weather warnings have been issued for parts of the North Island and upper South Island as heavy rain and strong winds were forecast over the next days.
Among the regions expected to be hit with rainfall up to 180mm between Wednesday and Friday this week is Nelson — where Bay Dreams festival kicks off today. Crowds of up to 13,000 packed out Nelson’s Rutherford Park in 2021 but the event was cancelled last year by the Covid19 pandemic.
Organisers were hoping to avoid consecutive cancellations, and Bay Dreams chief executive Toby Burrows said yesterday everything was still all go.
“At the moment we’re just monitoring the weather. The main thing for us is to manage any strong winds, to make sure our staff and crew safely set up the festival.”
On a phone call to Civil Defence, Burrows said he was reassured the wet weather hitting the Tasman would be centred more around the
Golden Bay and Abel Tasman regions.
“It’s nothing we’re not used to running outdoor events, these things do happen and it’s something we can’t control,” Burrows said.
“These events have a massive economic impact on the people, we’re keen to deliver a full Bay Dreams experience. All the artists are excited, so fingers crossed.”
Bay Dreams Mt Maunganui has already kicked off, with a line-up including 10-time Grammynominated artist Diplo, Denzel Curry, Elderbrook and Freddie Gibbs.
Meanwhile hundreds have reportedly left campsites in Northland after hearing about the incoming bad weather.
Bland Bay campground manager Wayne Johnstone said he had a huge hit to his books as holidaymakers cancelled.
Just 45 people were left on his site, and most people who had booked for this week and next had cancelled, Johnstone said.
This year was already shaping up to be a bad one financially, he said.
“Usually we would have around 300 to 350 people here with us but the weather has put an end to that.
So approximately [three] days ago, they started leaving in anticipation that the weather was going to turn bad.”
Holidaymakers across Coromandel Peninsula were warned to head home or risk being stranded ahead of an intense five-day storm set to slam the North Island summer hotspot. Yesterday, MetService issued a severe weather warning for the peninsula with 24 hours of heavy rain, including torrential downpours this morning.
Civil Defence controller Garry Towler strongly advised everyone to err on the side of caution.
“The accumulation of rain by Saturday could see surface flooding, slips, road closures and power issues, so it is worth hatching a plan to ensure no one is stuck or isolated.”