Big Day Out turning on the heat already

Auckland has turned on the weather for today's Big Day Out music festival at Ericsson Stadium.

The city is well on its way to the expected high of 24°, with conditions fine and sunny with light sea breezes.

Those sea breezes are unlikely to have any cooling effect on spectators at Mt Smart's Ericsson Stadium, though, so concert-goers are being urged to be "sun-smart" and take precautions of wearing a hat and applying generous amounts of sunscreen. The UV rays will be strong today, with a burn-time of under 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, organisers say there is no parking around the stadium, and are encouraging the use of public transport, as special bus and train services will be running.

Studded jewellery, professional cameras with big zoom lenses and alcohol will be confiscated at the gate. Anyone aged 18 and over needs to bring ID if they want to get into the bar area.

Organisers are being praised for their decision to maintain a ban on the sale of party pills within the stadium. No herbal highs are allowed to be sold within the venue again this year, a rule which is being commended by St John. However, at last year's event, hawkers peddled them to people on the streets as they made their way into the stadium. St John events manager Adam Johnston is warning people not to take them.

St John will have 115 volunteers located around the stadium, with two triage points near the main stages.

Events manager Adam Johnston says it is a great event and people should not need to get wasted to enjoy it.

- NEWSTALK ZB, HERALD ONLINE STAFF