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The promoter of R&B and Hip-Hop festival Juicy Fest has apologised for “a small number of undesirables” who caused trouble at the recent event.
Juicy Fest founder Glenn Meikle said thousands of people had attended the four-city event and the majority were well-behaved and had a good time.
The most recent event in Auckland on January 6 saw 12 arrests and gang intimidation, and an incident in which a man had part of his ear bitten off by a gang member.
“We can only apologise if a small number of undesirables ruined the experience for some and would hate for this to tarnish what was, for the most part, a positive event for most,” Meikle said.
“Overall every Juicy Fest event has been a great day celebrating R&B & hip hop and we of course take learnings from each.”
Meikle said gang regalia was banned at all Juicy Fest events.
But despite the ban on regalia, including patches, it was gang tattoos and chants that made it obvious there was a heavy gang presence, a witness said.
The person, who attended the Auckland event, said gang intimidation and aggression had unfortunately overshadowed the music.
The concertgoer witnessed a gang member partly bite off the ear of another man after he retaliated to the group’s “barking dog chant” by putting his fist up in the Black Power salute.
A female attendee in a blue dress was also harassed by a woman with a Mongrel Mob tattoo.
Trouble at the Auckland festival follows on from the Wellington event which one attendee said was overrun by Mongrel Mob gang members in the festival’s VVIP (Very, Very Important Person) section.
A man who attended with his wife said they ended up leaving the event early.
The man was hit in the back of the head with a full can of beer and said that, even when they moved to a different area, fights continued to break out.
He estimated he saw at least four major fights before leaving at 8.30pm.
Several attendees said security guards watched on as fights broke out and “left them to it”.
The police said six arrests were made at the festival in Wellington due to fighting and disorderly behaviour, but the crowd of around 15,000 were “largely well-behaved”.
Meanwhile St John has revealed medical staff treated a total of 191 people at the Juicy Fest events in Auckland and Wellington.
St John event health services national operations manager Natalie Lang said that 110 patients at Auckland’s concert required on-site treatment. Meanwhile, 81 people were treated by St John staff during Wellington’s event.
