The organiser of a day-long boutique music festival in Lauderdale is calling for locals to support the event by buying their tickets early.  

Ahipara Travel founder Jean-Michel Jefferson is using his own historic homestead and grounds, an existing wedding venue, for the festival, which has been around a year and half in the making. 

“We could fit 5,000 [people], but we want something where you treat people as human beings, they have space, time and respect.”

Jean-Michel said he is looking for a positive response from the community to back the event.

“So far ticket sales are very slow, and it could be that people are waiting for the last minute to buy their tickets.”

Total costs of holding the festival are in between $200,000 - $300,000, made up of a range of requirements such as securing musical acts, sound production and staging costs, traffic management, parking, staff and security and toilet hire.

“It’s a huge amount of effort and financial risk [doing this].”

Festival founders Jean-Michel Jefferson and Karen Jefferson also run Ahipara Travel, an innovative company who design premium experiences for tourists

The first ‘Aotea festival’ is limited to 2,000 tickets and  will be headlined by kiwi bands The Black Seeds, Herbs (acoustic), and Lost Tribe Aotearoa. 

Jean-Michel said it will be a quality event and an “old school music day” with room to relax, kick back and enjoy the music.

The festival will be family friendly and run from 10am - 8pm. Local food, coffee, wine and draught beer will be on offer, and beerhall style seating under tents in the redwood grove will provide shade and rest for partygoers.

Jean-Michel said plans were to be sustainable and eco friendly including recycling and composting where possible. 

A percentage of the festival profits will go towards grants for emerging artists.

The Central App is proud to be a media sponsor and support this new music event. 

There will be opportunities for people to work and volunteer at the festival: Email to find out more. 

For more information about the artists playing, including festival FAQs visit the Aotea Festival website. 

Plenty of parking will be available and the organisers will set up buses if there is adequate demand from ticket holders.