Hawke’s Bay accommodation a mission for Robbie Williams concerts

Robbie Williams could be facing a total of 50,000 fans over the two nights of his Mission Estate concerts in Napier on November 11-12.

Huge pressure on Hawke’s Bay accommodation for Robbie Williams concertgoers almost put another star on camp-out as she hunted for somewhere to stay.

As many as 50,000 could be at the Mission Estate over the two nights of the Williams concerts on November 11-12, says promoter Garry Craft, and past surveys of ticketholders have indicated as many as half could be from outside the region.

The demand provided some momentary jitters for internationally acclaimed Dunedin folk singer Nadia Reid, who was faced with the possibility of having nowhere to stay for the last nights of her November 8-12 tour of five Small Hall Sessions concerts in Hawke’s Bay.

Nadia Reid is due to perform five Small Hall Sessions in five nights in Hawke's Bay next month. Two of them on the same nights as Robbie Williams' big sessions at the Mission Estate in Taradale. Photo / Ebony Lamb

Small Hall concerts promoter Jamie McPhail conceded he’d stuffed up and hadn’t booked anything for Reid and two other members of the band. With everything booked, he went public in the hunt for rooms.

The Hawke’s Bay spirit shone through, beds have been found, and McPhail said: “I was overwhelmed with responses … from folk with caravans in their backyard to mattresses on the floor.”

The offer that has been accepted is from an “incredibly generous family” who have offered a whole house in Havelock North.

The situation highlights the demand for the weekend, with Craft expecting up to 25,000 people a night to pass through the gates of the Mission winery and vineyards in Taradale over the two nights of the long-awaited concerts.

They will come 14 months after the first night was announced in September 2022. That event sold out within hours, leading to the scheduling of a second.

It was all gangbusters for the Mission at the time, with the third and final of Sir Rod Stewart’s Easter 2023 concerts long sold out and a March 2023 offering of Sting announced soon afterwards. However, the Sting concert did not go ahead.

Craft said the Robbie Williams shows were possibly the biggest to be held at the Mission since the first was staged in 1993.

Some groundwork started this week. Ten trucks and trailers of gear are needed as the staging, lighting, towers and other structures are put in place.

There’s unlikely to be a similar rush next year, with no act booked yet.

The numbers heading for the Williams concerts showed the appeal of Mission Estate was not waning, Craft said.

Napier City Council events manager Kevin Murphy said up to half the audience at past Mission events had been from outside Hawke’s Bay.

With pressure on the recognised hotel and motel accommodation, he said many visitors stayed with family and friends or booked B&B or similar accommodation.

Labour Weekend was one of the Napier-Hastings area’s busiest of the year, with the Hawke’s Bay A & P Show finishing on Friday and team accommodation being booked for the Napier City Rovers Under-19 National Youth football tournament, which caters for more than 1000 players and officials.

Meanwhile, Reid’s tour will take her close to the hearts of some of the areas worst hit by Cyclone Gabrielle. Dates are: November 8, Poukawa; November 9, Te Awanga; November 10, Bay View; November 11, Puketapu; November 12, Maraekakaho.