REVIEW: My Day at the Newtown Festival

I wake up Sunday morning. The sun is shining and the heat is in full effect. Seems like a perfect day for the Newtown Festival. After my normal routine of having a chia smoothie and getting a 10am workout in I head on over to the festival to see what’s in store.

Immediately I am hit with a crowd of people, dancers and some awesome music. The first act I see is Inano Dance Group right front and center. For someone who is not a native New Zealander it is always so incredible to be immersed in the amazing culture. After a bit we kept walking on through the stalls having a look here and there. One of my favourite stalls included The Hippie Straw. An eco friendly shop with tons of reusable products such as straws, food packs, and bamboo toothbrushes. I am all about saving the turtles so of course I had to pick up my own set of stainless steel drinking straws in rainbow colours.

Next stop was to go see Androgynous Lemon at the south stage, the set was funky and fun. The synth added a nice 80s edge and it was very enjoyable. We hung around for a little bit before heading off to see SOFIA. It was a very well done stripped down performance with hay bale seating. It was a much more intimate setting for the indie folky tunes. French for Rabbits were on the Girls Rock Stage and had a good crowd. It was a pretty mellow alternative indie set. Very appropriate for the Wellington scene and much needed in a hectic day to just chill out and enjoy the vibes.

Androgynous Lemon playing on the South Stage

Now I’m sure you can imagine the sun was in full effect and the chia smoothie was wearing off I needed a lunch break. After snacking down some dumplings and walking through the stalls and stages for a bit I was ready to head on out and get out of the sun. I have some interview pieces from a couple other people who saw some of the other acts that I was unable to make it to.

Emma Common Intern at the Newtown Festival

Newtown Festival is one of the events I look forward to every year. With fifteen stages there were so many acts to see! I spent most of the day running from stage to stage trying to catch as many as I could. Some of my favourite performances include Troy Kingi & Mara TK, Half Cast, Macho Macho, and Louis Baker.

Macho Macho playing on Parrotdog Wilson Street Stage

Macho Macho had the audience jumping around almost as much as the band themselves were on the Parrot Dog stage. Full of energy and great music, they were truely brilliant to watch. Half Cast played a groovy set on the Tangata Whenua stage where they pulled in a massive crowd. Louis Baker was my number one favourite act of the day. His soulful performance left the crowd in awe, whether it was one of his originals or his fabulous cover of Prince’s Purple Rain, the crowd loved every minute of it. To engage the audience even more he did a call and response which felt like being at a James Brown concert.

Lexi Mills Organizer

This year for Newtown Festival I organised the Chill Zone on Daniell street and the Newtown Social Club (Monterey) stage. It was a pretty hectic, early morning setting up and running between the two spaces to ensure that everything went smoothly, and we were super lucky to have an amazing tech team of 2nd year Massey students running the NSC stage who absolutely smashed it (huge shout out to Lilla, the baddest/goodest/legend/angel/goddess/queen). We also had the loveliest team of volunteers taking care of the chill zone all day. I managed to catch a bit of H4lf Cāst on the Tangata Whenua stage, who are always incredible - the grooviest grooves, powerful, important messages and mega energy. After that I was at Newtown Social Club for the rest of the day & into the night. It felt like a cosy, funky lil oasis away from all the crowds on the street, and was such a sick vibe. Some highlights for me were seeing Zac Crackalaka spreadin his good vibrations one last time before he heads back home to Australia for a wee while, as well as The Gallery opening the pavement stage at 5pm, who got the crowd absolutely pumpingggg with their fresh hip hop tunes. Definitely ones to watch. Everyone else I got to see - Dr Brownlove, MC Phanny, Brother Tem & Friends, General Vibe, Simloco, George Young, Hummucide, Mamazita, DJ Magnette, DJ Pleez & BioniCal were so epic, I wish I had time to share some words about all of them. Such talented musicians. I really enjoyed seeing the artists collaborate & jam together, it felt extra special, and very fitting for newtown social club. I’m completely blown away by all of the energy the artists, coordinators, crew and volunteers put in to make it such an awesome day & I already can’t wait for next year. Just gotta have some sleep first.

Another Successful year for Newtown Fest and hope everyone enjoyed it!