Fortune music festival to be held on University Oval

Celebrating the launch of the Fortune Festival are Dunedin Venues Management Ltd event operations manager Brenna McCann and festival organiser Jason Schroeder. Photo / Peter McIntosh

After a "drought" of major events in the south, Dunedin's fortunes are changing.

The world-class inaugural Fortune Festival will bring more than a dozen of New Zealand's "best-loved acts" to multiple stages at the University Oval on April 2 next year.

Organiser Jason Schroeder expected about 4000-5000 people to attend the R18 event, and the first line-up of acts is expected to be announced tomorrow.

"The line-up will be something that can be enjoyed by the wider Dunedin population.

"The University Oval is such a unique space for a festival like this.

"There's going to be multiple stages — the main stage actually being on the oval itself — so people are going to be able to sit on the lawn and in the grandstand."

Schroeder said there had been a gap in the market for this type of event in Dunedin and the lower south for a long time.

"So we're really excited to be able to bring this to Dunedin and provide some hope and some excitement around bringing major events back — something to look forward to."

He hoped it would become an annual event for Dunedin.

The event is a partnership between local organisations Common People Entertainment, Dunedin Venues Management Ltd and Live Nation, and "hundreds of thousands of dollars" had been spent on making the event a reality.

Although the festival did not qualify for the Government's events transition support scheme, Schroeder was not concerned.

Under the scheme, the Government will pick up the lion's share of upfront costs that cannot be recovered if Covid-19 forces cancellations.

"It's a good time of year," he said.

"Also, we'll be well within the traffic light system by then, and everyone will be used to using vaccine passes — so we're ready."

Pre-sale tickets go on sale on Monday and public sales will open next Thursday.