The weather looked dubious but the sun shone down on the Saturday as we wove our way down the Eastern highways of Auckland from Manurewa and Clevedon to Tapapakanga Regional Park for the iconic Splore festival. The festival is known worldwide and its long-awaited return post-covid closures had over 10,000 eager attendees sign up (and it’s not cheap, over $400 each but you get a lot of bang for your buck). The festival had been built during the past seven days with five sound stages and something to suit every taste.
Normally grass paddocks by the beach, the park is transformed into five stages of live music ranging from acoustic to dance; food trucks and villages; a dedicated performance zone that hosts Saturday night’s outrageous cabaret – and the entire park is lit up with spectacular lighting and a contemporary visual art trail.
Read on for my 10 favourite things from my first time at Splore Festival…
Taking my daughter away for a mother and daughter road trip to Splore was definitely a highlight we will both long remember! It was her first major music festival, and my first time at Splore, so all-in-all a very memorable time.
The art installations in the trees and grassy banks of the park were a sight to behold. This one created a visual spectacle on the Goat Track down from the campsite to the beach stage area.
I particularly enjoyed the artworks on the northern side of the park where you could walk around the art and sculptures by day, then return at night, and see them completely transformed into neon, lights, and glowing art forms.
Tapapakanga Beach front became a beach resort with thousands of concert-goers enjoying a dip and getting a free wash – you can have a hot shower at the festival for $10 but the beach is beautiful. I recommend the far left side where there are less rocks as I cut my knee on an oyster on a rock to the right. Ouch.
Another highlight was the illuminated costumes which are a real thing at Splore and the festival is well-known for its night time costumes often involving a battery pack. All shapes, colours, and styles of garb glowed past us and danced away like underwater sealife.
SPLORE DARLING was the theme of the festival for 2023 and featured on the stages
The incredible costumes were a major part of the festival and make it super fun.
THE MUD is now famous and took a character and a life of its own. People had given up by the Friday night storm and subsequent wash-out and jandals lay forgotten as people went barefoot – I hate to think about the state of the inside of sleeping bags. Luckily Carolyn Enting had forewarned me and we took our own gumboots.
Photos Megan Robinson
March 2023