The cancellation of the music festival – featuring artists such as Haim and Phoebe Bridgers – follows the cancellation of both Elton John’s Auckland shows this weekend.
Laneway organizers said they had to make the “heartbreaking” decision to cancel the show due to Auckland’s unprecedented weather.
“We were so excited to bring this show to our largest ever audience in New Zealand. Our team has been working around the clock to do everything they can to save the venue, but the damage and disruption caused by the weather has made it led to it being no longer safe to continue.”
Ticket holders are being refunded amid organizers’ pledge on Twitter: “We’ll be back in 2024.”
Sunday’s Gardens Music Festival organizers have confirmed they will be leaving the boggy Auckland Domain and moving inside to Spark Arena. Two of the lineup – John Morales and MissB – will not perform, but Set Mo, LP Giobbi, Peking Duk and headliner Fatboy Slim are already in the country so will still perform.
Opera in the Park in Glover Park, St. Heliers, which was scheduled to take place today, has been postponed to March 4 due to weather.
The Festival One event in Kaipara has been cancelled, with the announcement posted on the festival’s Facebook page.
“I’m crying as I write this. My heart is breaking. You all know what’s happening around the upper North Island. We had some pretty epic weather last night. Rain, as they say, of ‘biblical proportions’,” organizer G wrote to the management team their mail.
However, the Breakers NBL game against Melbourne at the Spark Arena will go ahead.
Events in other parts of the North Island have also been affected.
Fatboy Slim’s concert in Napier tonight has been canceled due to bad weather.
Tauranga’s two-day One Love Festival has been canned for the first time in its history.
The reggae festival was to be held today and Sunday at the Tauranga Domain. Acts included UB40, Sons of Zion and Katchafire.
The weather has also affected the Black Sticks vs Spain series in Tauranga. The first game was supposed to take place this afternoon, but has been cancelled. A decision will be made later in the second game to be played in Tauranga on Sunday.