Wānaka’s Three Parks Outdoor Arena may host the long-running Gibbston Valley Greenstone Entertainment summer concert from next year, after organisers confirmed plans to move the event here.

The large-scale concert has attracted more than 15,000 people each year for the past 15 years, featuring major acts such as Cold Chisel, Crowded House, Alanis Morissette and ZZ Top, and contributes around $12M to the region’s economy annually.

Organisers Amanda and Dean Calvert said the move came after being told the Gibbston site would be developed for housing.

“We're absolutely delighted to have secured Three Parks Outdoor Arena as our new home for the next five years,” Greenstone Entertainment CEO and founder Amanda Calvert said.

The Three Parks Outdoor Arena site

Three Parks Outdoor Arena is owned by Wānaka businessman Allan Dippie and recently hosted 50,000 people for Wheels at Wānaka.

“Allan is such a community driven person and without his foresight the concert would have likely moved away from the region," Amanda said.

"The expansion into Wānaka marks an exciting new chapter for us, and we're confident it will become a highlight of the South Island summer calendar.”

Dean said it had been “extremely hard” to find a suitable new venue.

“We started the whole thing back in 2011 in Gibbston and have built the concert into one of the most renowned for our demographic in the country,” he said.

“But the region has been on that journey with us... land is so valuable now. And it's not just the concert site, it's the infrastructure needed to bring 15,000 people to that site.”

“We hadn't been able to find anything and were on our way out of town... when Allan popped up and said 'come and have a look at this venue’.”

Allan Dippie said the venue was excited to be teaming up with Greenstone.

“Their impeccable track record for putting on world class events that attract major international artists have made this joint venture an easy decision,” he said.

“Three Parks Outdoor Arena will offer a true outdoor amphitheatre experience like no other and we look forward to welcoming concert goers next year.”

Greenstone has applied for consent for a 30,000-person capacity, although Dean said they were unlikely to hit that number. The consent application is currently being vetted by Queenstown Lakes District Council.

There were traffic issues around the three-day Wheels at Wānaka event. A full traffic management plan has been drawn up for the concert consent and Dean says the site provides better access than Gibbston, on a notorious stretch of SH6.

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The 2026 concert tour dates and artist line-up will be announced soon.