Beach Hop celebrates 24th year
Event marks 60 years of classic Ford Mustang
The Repco Beach Hop Festival is revving up in the Coromandel in less than four weeks. From March 20-24, the celebration of classic cars and rock-n-roll is hopping around the peninsula with the usual stops in Waih¯ı, Onemana and Whangamata¯.
Exciting things are planned with more than 1000 vehicles participating in the event.
Organiser Noddy Watts said the upcoming festival also coincided with a huge moment in American motoring history.
“This year is special because it’s the 60th anniversary of the Ford Mustang which first came about in 1964.
“It’s a big and iconic American muscle car, so we’re going to do additional extra features which we’re really excited about.”
Watts said the festival celebrated a transitional era.
“Celebrations of the 50s and 60s are an important part of our culture from what happened in the two decades following World War II.
“Societies and countries did a lot of rebuilding and lots of things changed — the design of cars, more powerful V8 engines, music changed, there was a rock-n-roll revolution.
“People’s freedoms also changed during the time of those 20 years, and that’s what we celebrate.”
After overcoming road closures, natural disasters, and the effects of the pandemic, Watts was thrilled to be celebrating 24 years.
He said they were expecting a bigger spectator turnout this year as things look brighter for New Zealand.
“Last year with the weather events of Cyclone Gabrielle people were really apprehensive to travel because State Highway 25A was closed. The
only road to Whangamata¯ was through Waih¯ı.
“We’ve had four really tough years but we never cancelled an event and just had to postpone two.
“This year, touch wood, everything is going well, and with the Hikuwai Bailey Bridge open, we’re expecting heaps more people.”
The festival will include a new edition from last year coming on board for round two.
The Lowrider Slamfest is pushing close to 100 cars on display this year with a bigger area to go in, which was a jump from 70 cars last year.
The power cruise on March 21 is also part of this year’s festival lineup.
Participants are invited to visit and purchase something in surrounding Coromandel towns to help the economy, and this year participants will go in the draw to win $5000 if they shop outside of a town in Whangamata.
Other programme features include a classic Mustang show, over 100 retro caravans, vintage markets, and five or six car shows.
Watts said Beach Hop would give back to the community.
“All the proceeds raised from the event go to local emergency services like Surf Lifesaving NZ, Coastguard, Search and Rescue, St John and others.
“We want to keep our community safe because if we had a dangerous beach or people get lost, nobody will come to the Coromandel and that’s why for the past 24 years we’ve been giving our money to these organisations.”
On March 20, Repco has a new event to kick off the festival called ‘Hair’, inspired by the Musical which Watts said was fairly controversial at the time.
The Hair event at the Repco garage in Whangamata would be a celebration of all things hair: from beards and moustaches to mullets and rock-n-roll hairstyles with cash prizes for the best hairdos and beard styles.
There are also heaps of prizes for festival attendees. By buying a $5 festival programme people get in the draw to win a 1966 Ford Mustang, a brand new Harley Davidson motorbike, or a cash prize of $10,000.
Watts said it was a chance for people from anywhere to come and take a breath and have some fun at the festival. “It’s free for the public, Whangamata is so beautiful to go back to that rock-n-roll era, classic cars at the beach, surfers and beach boys, it all gels together. Come along, have fun, and be safe. Look after each other and re-live what it was like in those days when life was great and things were simple.”
The Repco Beach Hop Festival 2024 kicks off in Waih¯ı from March 20-24. For more information visit the Beach Hop website.