Thousands attend Lakeside every year. Photo / File
Thousands attend Lakeside every year. Photo / File
The cast has been chosen and rehearsals are in full swing for the much anticipated 25th-year celebration of Rotorua’s iconic event - Lakeside.
In just over three weeks, the Lakeside stage will again be set up on Rotorua’s Village Green in a show marking the 25-year milestone.
Lakeside 25 - Ka Mau Te Wehi (which translates to fantastic) will be held on March 11 from 7pm.
The free outdoor concert - which has previously attracted crowds of more than 15,000 - had been held consistently for 24 years since 1997 but the Covid-19 pandemic meant the concert couldn’t go ahead in 2021 and 2022.
This year’s show promises to be another memorable night ending in a fireworks display that will feature some of the old and new - as well as some changes, including making the event alcohol-free.
Che Fu will headline the Lakeside 25 concert. Photo / George Novak
The line-up features three headline acts - Kiwi classic band Ardijah, old school hip hop and R&B favourite Che Fu, and multi-instrumentalist, singer and Silver Scroll Award winner Troy Kingi.
Rotorua Lakeside Concert Charitable trust chairman Ian Edward - who has been at the helm for the entire 25 years - said Rotorua had always been an “entertainment-focused” city that was showcased in the heydays with Lakefront Soundshell concerts and New Year’s Eve Mardi Gras events.
“The philosophy of Lakeside is that we could bring the best of the country’s entertainers to Rotorua for a free concert because it was beyond the financial means of most of the citizens to travel to see them.”
Musician Troy Kingi will headline Lakeside 25. Photo / Supplied
Edward said the first show featured the late Sir Howard Morrison as MC and the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra as well as an array of top acts with one or two local performers.
“In contemplating what we would do for the 25th, it seemed most appropriate we should look to our own.”
He said he compiled a large list of local performers who had gone on to do great things on the national and international stage and gave it to this year’s artistic director, Dixon Nacey - who is artistic director of one of New Zealand’s biggest free outdoor concerts Coca Cola Christmas in the Park.
Among the locals chosen by Nacey is powerhouse vocalist Rewa Ututaonga, opera singer Elisha Hulton, teen sensation Nikau Grace Chater, local favourite Krissie Knap, storyteller and singer Jack Grace and iconic entertainer Howard Morrison Junior.
Also among this year’s Lakeside performers are Christian Thurston, Thomas Stowers, Anna Grahame, Hannah Rees, Iri Aumatangi and Takerei Hikuroa-Peck.
Peforming at the 2020 concert are Rewa Ututaonga (left), Krissie Knap, Nikau Grace Chater, Maisey Rika and Hollie Smith. Photo / Stephen Parker
Edward said the trust decided it would not go through the process of applying for a liquor licence this year. In the past, limited amounts of alcohol had been allowed to be brought on to the Village Green but a special licence was needed as the entire CBD was subject to a liquor ban.
“As part of crowd control, there is a need to recognise change. In the interests of safety for all concert goers the trust determined to make it alcohol-free like all other family outdoor events.”
Edward said liquor licensing rules had changed and it was costly and difficult to apply for a licence.
“It really would take us away from the focus and that’s putting on a free family-focused concert.”
Lakeside concert.
Edward said everyone had been through difficult times in the past three years and Rotorua needed to focus on what it did best.
“There’s no bigger example than what happened last week with the NRL games and the Tarawera Ultra Marathon events at the weekend. What a joy it was to see accommodation booked out and restaurants full. The town was buzzing.”
Edward said weather events had also taken its toll.
“Barring another act of God on the day, we are looking forward to a most appropriate celebration on March 11 of our 25 years of providing free concerts.”
For Ututaonga, she said her association with Lakeside went back to the first concert in 1997 when she sang Somewhere by Barbara Streisand and a duet with Mark Williams - Manaakitanga, Feel the Spirit, which was at the time the recently released theme song for Rotorua. Ututaonga has sung at several Lakeside concerts since and took the reins as artistic director in 2019.
