Juicy Festival is in fact getting hot up in Whangārei today as storm weather eases and Northlanders get ready to party.

People could be seen lining up before 9am to make their way into the one-day music festival that features some of the biggest American RnB and hip-hop artists from the late 90s and early 2000s.

Sudden wild weather yesterday, where Whangārei was doused in a month’s worth of rain, left many concert-goers fearing the gig would be canned.

But the show will go on.

Around 8000 people are expected to turn out to see Grammy Award-winners Ne-Yo, Nelly and Mya along with Chingy, Lloyd, Ja Rule, Bow Wow, Xzibit, Pretty Ricky, and Twista perform.

Juicy Festival promoter Glenn Meikle said ticket sales for the Whangārei concert had been strong since the beginning.

“We are excited to be bringing such a high calibre of international artists to Whangārei,” Juicy Festival promoter Glenn Meikle said.

The district is the last stop in the New Zealand leg of the Juicy Festival tour before it hops across the Tasman to entertain Australian crowds.

Meikle said Whangārei was included in the tour because organisers wanted to include city centres that often get missed out on festival-style shows.

“Northland is a stunning place, with so much to offer and we hope that by including Whangārei, along with every other centre on our tour, these cities and New Zealand will be exposed to the world and in turn, boost tourism and our economy.

“By touring the festival to multiple centres, it means it’s easier for more people to attend,” he said.

While the artists’ schedules for the tour are tight they are still keen to see as much of the city as they can, Meikle explained.

“All of the artists love New Zealand. They have had the best time at the New Zealand Juicy Fest shows and have thrived off the people and the energy they have received – and we’re sure Whangārei will be no different.”

Aucklanders Taraka Jolley and Tyrell Master chose to travel to Whangārei for Juicy Festival even though there was a gig in Auckland.

“We just haven’t done a concert in Whangārei,” Jolley explained.

Jolley said she was most looking forward to seeing Xzibit, who is well-known as the host of the reality television series Pimp My Ride.

“I’ll probably cry when he comes out,” Jolley said.

The Chokolato team have been following Juicy Festival around their tour of New Zealand, all the way from Palmerston North,

“We’ve been to all of them apart from Tauranga,” said Williams.

Heavy rain forecast for the Bay of Plenty led to the second show of the tour being cancelled in Tauranga on January 6. As many as 15,000 people were expected to attend the event.

Megs Clarke and Laraleigh Bennett-Galo had their Juicy Festival merch on before the gig had even started in Whangārei today.

“I’m looking forward to Pretty Ricky the most,” Clarke said.