Rotorua gears up for huge summer of events

ENTERTAINED: Raggamuffin is one of many big events Rotorua will host this year. PHOTO/FILE

Rotorua is gearing up for a massive line-up of events in the coming months - ranging from the favourite annual events like Raggamuffin to new events which have decided to call the city home.

Over the next few months Rotorua will welcome hundreds of visitors for events, starting with the Bayleys National Sevens competition on January 11 and 12 at the Rotorua International Stadium.

Thousands of people are expected to visit the stadium during the fast-paced two-day event, which has moved to Rotorua this year from Queenstown.

The end of the month will see the focus switch from sports to reggae with the stadium playing host to two-day music festival Raggamuffin on January 31 and February 1.

Last year the festival attracted more than 25,000 people on the Saturday.

Festival director Jackie Sanders said this year's event was shaping up as "one to remember".

"Friday night is looking to be huge with sales almost as high as for the Saturday night and some VIP areas are sold out."

Two-day and single-day tickets were still available and the line-up for Friday night features Shaggy with the two-hour Damian Marley set on Saturday night.

She said they hoped the local community would come out and support the festival - which injects more than $15 million into the local economy - so it stayed in Rotorua for future years.

A new event this year is the inaugural National Maori Basketball Tournament which will see basketball teams representing iwi from throughout New Zealand converge on Rotorua for Waitangi Weekend.

The tournament will be at the Energy Events Centre from February 6 to 8 and will feature age-group sections from under-11 to under-21, as well as men's, women's, mixed and wheelchair sections. It's expected to attract more than 1000 players, officials and supporters.

The Rotorua Bike Festival will also make a return in February following the success of last year's event. The 10-day Rotorua Bike Festival runs from Friday February 14 to Sunday February 23.

Several big concerts are also headed to Rotorua this year.

British singer Paul Potts, who became a sensation after being discovered on the television show Britain's Got Talent, will perform in Rotorua on April 20 as part of an eight-stop New Zealand tour.

Meanwhile Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has announced Rotorua would be one of just four New Zealand cities she will tour.

Her show will take place at the Rotorua Civic Theatre at 8pm on May 6, accompanied by internationally acclaimed pianist Terence Dennis. American singer Bill Haley Jr will also head to Rotorua in March performing with his band The Comets at the Energy Events Centre.

Event and Venues general manager Peter McLeod said the biggest difference this year was the busy January with the Sevens competition, and Raggamuffin falling slightly earlier than normal.

He said events were a key earner for Rotorua bringing in tens of millions of dollars each year.

Many Rotorua people probably don't realise that there are close to 100 major events each year in the city.

"The important thing is the wide range. There is something there for everybody."

Mr McLeod said there was "absolutely" room for the industry to grow and they'd recently adopted a new major events strategy looking at ways to take the industry to the next level locally.