The opening act of Juicy Fest was American rapper and record producer Twista. Photo / Tania Whyte
Juicy Festival got hot up in Whangārei on Wednesday, as Northlanders and visitors to the region celebrated the end of the stormy weather with lots of live music.
People could be seen lining up before 9am to make their way into the one-day music festival, which featured some of the biggest American R&B and hip-hop artists from the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
Whangārei was doused in a month’s worth of rain in sudden wild weather on Tuesday, leaving many concert-goers fearing the festival would be canned.
Around 8000 people are understood to have turned out to see Grammy Award-winners Ne-Yo, Nelly and Mýa along with Chingy, Lloyd, Ja Rule, Bow Wow, Xzibit, Pretty Ricky, and Twista perform.
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Image 1 of 22: 30 minutes before the first act was due to perform lines to get into the festival were still spanning almost the entire length of Port Road. Photo / Tania Whyte.
Juicy Festival promoter Glenn Meikle said ticket sales for the Whangārei concert had been strong.
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.
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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 forecasted 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.
“I’m looking forward to Pretty Ricky the most,” Clarke said.
