Traffic is crawling towards Baypark from every direction as major music festival Bay Dreams gets underway in Mount Maunganui.
It is an overcast day in Tauranga as up to 20,000 make their way into the venue.
Metservice has forecast showers with possible thunderstorms for Tauranga, easing tonight.
A heavy rain warning in force this morning expired at 2pm but the city appears to have escaped the worst of the wet weather.
A reporter at the festival said just before 3pm rain was falling but people were still smiling, with many having come prepared with ponchos.
