New Zealand's top reggae festival One Love has sold out for its fourth year in a row and 20,000 people are expected to descend on Tauranga for the event this weekend.
That’s 2,000 more than last year when 18,000 festival-goers filled the venue at the Tauranga Domain.
Organiser Pato Alvarez says his team has spent a lot of time and money making the theme for this year’s festival even better.
“We have wanted to bring the reggae colours and vibe more to life in every way possible. Our team can’t wait to see it come to life this weekend and see the festival goers’ reactions,” he told Te Kāea.
Headlining day one of the two-day festival will be Fiji, Hawaiian superstar Kolohe Kai, Stan Walker and reggae royalty, Ky-Mani Marley.
Day two on Sunday will feature British reggae kings UB40 Featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey Rebel Souljahz from Hawai'i, Katchafire and local heroes L.A.B.
“UB40 with Ali Campbell will be one of the main standouts this year as it took myself three years to book the band to play at our One Love Festival," says Alvarez.
“We always look forward to having Katchafire play on the One Love stage especially this year as the boys have new music out, so seeing them perform it live will be a great vibe.”
Alvarez says he has increased the capacity of people in the VIP section and the layout has changed.
“There will be faster lines in VIP as they have their own bars, food stalls and toilets.”
He says he’s also designed chair areas in both the VIP and general section to help with the congestion.
Good Vibes pre-party
The festival kicks off with the Good Vibes pre-party on Friday night with two of New Zealand's most iconic bands Kora and Sons of Zion headlining.
“We decided to have it the day before the One Love festival kicks off," says Alvarez.
“We wanted to create a platform that new international and domestic artists could play at that has a great vibe and crowd and prepare them for one day playing at our One Love festival.”
The full line-up for Good Vibes is Kora, Sons of Zion, Josh Wawa, Jordan T, Micah G, NRG Rising, Lion Rezz, Lomez Brown and Poetik.
