Another one bites the dust: Napier’s Revival Festival cancelled

• Napier’s Revival Festival has been cancelled due to low ticket sales.
• The festival, featuring Abba and Elton John tributes, was set for February 8 at Napier’s Soundshell.
• Revival Festival’s cancellation marks the third summer event postponed or cancelled in the region.

At 110 beats a minute, Queen’s Another One Bites The Dust is recommended by experts as the song to hum as you are performing CPR.

But not even one of Australia’s greatest Queen cover bands was enough to save Napier’s Revival Festival from a sudden death on Wednesday.

Revival Festival was set to take place at Napier’s Soundshell on Saturday, February 8 and was billed as “New Zealand’s Ultimate Dance Festival”, drawing together Abba covers group Bjorn Again, Queen revivalists The Killer Queen Experience, and an Elton John double known as Lance Strauss’ Elton Jack.

However, a spokesperson for festival’s promoter Endeavour Live confirmed the festival would not be going ahead because of low ticket sales.

“While we were excited about the concept, world-class venue and some amazing bands, ticket sales were not where they needed to be so we have made the unfortunate decision to cancel, and refunds have been provided to ticketholders.

“We look forward to bringing more talent to the Hawke’s Bay in the near future.”

Endeavour Live is headed by Rhythm and Vines architect Hamish Pinkham, of Napier, who promoted last April’s Tom Jones concert at Napier’s McLean Park.

Revival was set to be the first ticketed concert at the Soundshell since 2010.

The event was expected to attract up to 2500 people, with Napier City Council saying in December it hoped it would be the first of many events at the Soundshell.

Revival Festival is now the third concert or music festival to be postponed or cancelled this summer after the Timeless Summer Tour featuring Little River Band, Boy George, Bonny Tyler and Starship at Church Road was postponed indefinitely in late December, and Six60 at Shed 530 Estate Winery was last week postponed to October 25.

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the past 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.