After a long eighteen years down in Wellington, the Homegrown music festival made its comeback where it all began, right here in Hamilton. The move was prompted by the popularity of the event, causing the number of attendees to more than double since it settled in Wellington from around 10,000 to 24,000 (RNZ). With the Claudelands Oval able to hold up to 50,000 people, organisers could upgrade from five stages to seven, almost tripling the space they had to work with.
The extra stage space in the new location created the opportunity for the Manuka Phuel Nexus stage to host smaller, new up and coming artists that could show what they could do. This included Coridian, Wet Denim, Prins, Imani-J, Verity, and Erin G & Altercation. With over 150 applicants from artists to play on this stage, many were bumped in order to select the final six, meaning that there are likely a few local Hamilton artists that missed out on the chance to play the festival in their hometown. Even so, the chosen bands showed incredible talent and popularity with the crowd, showing exactly why they’d landed their spot.
The move back to Hamilton is predicted to come with a great boom to the city’s economy, predicted somewhere between 4-6 million dollars. Big bands like Six60, L.A.B, Sons of Zion, Kings, and more took the stages to attract both locals and travellers, filling up accommodation and dining businesses for the weekend. However, one local cafe in central Hamilton that I spoke to didn’t exactly feel all the Homegrown love.
Little Honey, a popular cafe sitting in the middle of Victoria Street, usually fills up over the weekend. But over the last few days, they’ve seen a decrease in those numbers while the people that would have been customers were otherwise at the festival. While some local businesses would have seen a boom in business, some obviously felt the effects. Hopefully, things settle back down for the admired spot as the town settles back into normality.
Homegrown being held in Wellington annually brought in about 15 million dollars to the economy (Wellington Live), meaning that the move causes the city to lose out on that from now on. Aside from the venue being over capacity, other important factors in Homegrown relocating were some financial concerns between the festival and the council, as well as Wellington locals feeling disconnected from the event. Though the festival moving does have some negative effects on the city it left behind, Wellington still has a lot to call their own.
Feedback from the events first year back in Hamilton paints Homegrown as a success, popular with the attendees in almost every way. Free bus rides were offered, making transportation smooth and easy, as well as skilfully structured food and drink access and easy transition between the different stages. If this year was anything to go on, then Homegrown is only set to grow better and more popular in the years to come.
