Reggae roots legends Katchafire will headline next year's Fritter Festival, joined by other big names including the Jordan Luck Band, Tiki Taane and Hipstamatics.
The fourth year of the Toll Stadium-based event, set for March 19, also boasts a strong Northland line-up with performances from Otium, 5K, The Gold Cloaks and The Avenues.
Whangarei District Council marketing and events manager Rachel O'Gorman said Katchafire has recently returned from a worldwide tour and were feeling "re-inspired".
"They have some sweet and spicy new tunes to start delivering and sharing with the world, although the next few months will be at home in focusing on studio time and new tunes, as well as shows and festivals," she said.
The humble Fritter was proving itself a key player in Whangarei's events calendar " with the 2015 festival experiencing an attendance boom of 25 per cent on the year before. Venues and Events Whangarei manager John Lynch said 5000 people attended this year's event, which featured headline act Dave Dobbyn. It injected more than $1 million into the local economy, he said.