Big Day Out to rock again

The Big Day Out is to rock Auckland again next January - or that's the plan of promoter Campbell Smith, who has announced the musical festival is coming back but to the new venue of Western Springs.

The Auckland stop on the event's Australasian circuit was cancelled after last year's event.

Mr Smith said the decision to resurrect it was spurred by fan demand, support from Auckland Council, and a vision for something new.

"After the dust had settled, and particularly given the feedback we'd received from fans, that they missed it, we started thinking about how it could be possible to do a show here, in a way that made sense for New Zealand. So it's not going to simply be the sixth Australian BDO, it's going to be a show that we will create and curate for this market."

A big part of that new vision will be the festival's move from Mt Smart Stadium in industrial Penrose.

"I think there's three key things that make Western Springs a great site," Smith said. "I always had a feeling that these shows should be in a central city environment, that they should be urban. The next thing is that if there's one thing I've learned over 10 years of doing Big Day Out, grass rules. The more grass you have, the happier people are.

"And thirdly, if you want to build something different and make a statement about it, then a key part of that is doing it in a different place."

Another new aspect to the 2014 event will be the expansion of the artistic and cultural components.

"I've been to things like Pasifika and the Lantern Festival, and I can't see why we can't have different elements like they have."

Mayor Len Brown was delighted The Big Day Out NZ was returning to Auckland.

"Any world class city has a constellation of events to cater for the tastes of all of its residents - young and not so young.

Returning a Big Day Out to our calendar in 2014 would fill a huge hole and the proposed relocation to Western Springs would "bring this significant music and culture event right into the city for residents and the thousands of visitors it draws to Auckland," he said.

Organisers are seeking a five-year resource consent.