Tens of thousands of people have soaked up the vibes of the Homegrown music festival in Wellington over the years. Photo: RNZ / Jemima Huston
- Organisers say the Homegrown music festival in March will be the last time the annual event will be held in Wellington
- Shihad guitarist Phil Knight says the waterfront venue is a unique location for a music festival of Homegrown's size
- Hospitality advocate Jeremy Smith says the loss of he event will leave a "massive hole' in the capital's entertainment calendar
- The Wellington Chamber of Commerce says 18 years of growth of the festival in Wellington means the event will be hard to replace
Wellington musicians are mourning the loss of a unique gig in their home town, after news that the Homegrown festival will no longer be held in the capital.
Business advocates say the end of the festival at the capital's waterfront will leave a "massive hole" in Wellington's tourism and entertainment calendar.
In 18 years Homegrown had gone from drawing about 10,000 music fans to more than 23,000 people soaking up the country's best acts across five stages.
Drax Project vocalist and saxophone player Shaan Singh began his career busking on the streets of the capital.
He said the festival had always been a highpoint of the local scene and the chance to play the main stage in his hometown was a dream come true.
"Every time I play Homegrown I think about when I was 16 and I went to my first Homegrown with my friends. It feels so cool. People come from everywhere to come down to Homegrown its not just Wellingtonians. It really shows Wellington in the best way," Singh said.
Local legends Shihad. Photo: Supplied
Wellington hard rock legends Shihad were playing the very last show of their farewell tour at the final Wellington Homegrown this March.
Lead guitarist Phil Knight said he felt blessed to have played the festival many times and the news it was leaving the city came as a real shock.
He said the waterfront venue had remained a unique setting for a show, in the group's decades of international touring
"I don't know anywhere that does anything like that really, smack bang in the centre of the metropolis, down on the harbour there. I can't think of anywhere that does a festival of that size in a place like the Wellington waterfront," Knight said.
Wellington City councillor Geordie Rogers said the festival had outgrown its location in the capital.
"The beautiful thing about the Wellington waterfront is that it is such a tight knit space. That means you can have really special experiences but it does mean you get a little bit stuck when it comes to massive event numbers. We've got a lot of work to do I think in Wellington to find out where our venue for those numbers is," Rogers said.
Homegrown brought nearly $3 million of economic benefit to the Wellington region last year.
Organisers would not say where the festival would end up in 2026.
Jeremy Smith of hospitality advocates Trinity Group said he was "gutted" Homegrown was heading elsewhere.
"Something like this leaving the city will leave a massive hole. We haven't had a big event at the stadium for some years and Homegrown was one that you could bet on was going to be there and bring people into the city for two nights minimum," Smith said.
Retail New Zealand chief executive Carolyn Young said the loss of the event would be hugely disappointing to businesses in the capital.
"We know that Wellington City has been really struggling with the last 18 months or so. We really need to be thinking about 'how do we get people back into the city, how do we get domestic tourists into New Zealand?'," Young said.
Wellington NZ general manager of events and experiences Heidi Morton said work was going on behind the scenes to make sure the loss of the festival did not leave too much of a gap.
"Some of the discussions that we've been having with promoters is that they can bring stuff to Wellington that they can develop over a few years. So we may not get that 'wham, bam' of Homegrown right at the start but there definitely are some things out there which we think we can build into something in the future," Morton said.
But Wellington Chamber of Commerce head Simon Arcus said it would be hard to replace the 18 years of growth Homegrown had experienced in the capital.
"It takes time to embed that reputation of an event. Although other opportunities come a long it can take an awfully long time to make those really grow and embed them in the calendar and that's a shame because it's a lot of work to get to where they got to," Arcus said.
In a statement, Mayor Tory Whanau said the council was committed to hosting a packed year-round events calendar.
She said the city would continue to work alongside local artists and community groups "to explore new and innovative events".
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