02 January 2016 - 0 Comments

Over 15,000 Rhythm and Vines festival‐goers welcomed the first sunrise of the New Year, marking what has been a new dawn in Rhythm and Vines’ 13-year long history.

Reflecting international festival trends, Rhythm and Vines 2015 offered more entertainment, innovative experiences, and a greater range of refreshments than ever before. Jubilant festival‐goers, from newbies to R&V veterans, loved it, while the organisers and police noticed a marked improvement in behaviour.

“The atmosphere has been fantastic, and New Year’ Eve was a really special night,” said Rhythm and Vines founder Hamish Pinkham. "With camping all on site, earlier starts, and some imaginative new ways to keep the crowds  entertained, there was a new, laid back vibe. Everyone just got on and enjoyed themselves. The music was as legendary as ever: with P-Money joining Scribe, and Dave Dobbyn playing with Hollie Smith, the crowds went nuts.”

Rhythm and Vines by the numbers:

104 musical acts, including 350 musicians and their entourages
52 visas processed for international musicians
100 hours of music
6 comedians, 6 hours of jokes (plus 1 streaker)
1.5 hours of motocross flips and stunts
1,500,000 views on the R&V Snapchat account
20 food trucks and other food outlets
1,500 people down the Fruju water slide
800,000 litres of water used on site
300,000 metres of toilet roll used
9 loads of recycling and rubbish weighing in at 17 tonnes (compared with 20 tonnes last year)
$3,000 raised for The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation
$3,000 raised for Gisborne Surf Lifesaving
6,500 onsite campers
15,000 festival‐goers on the final night
2,000 staff and volunteers

Thousands of people packed out each of the three Rhythm and Vines states last night, with the main Vines stage at maximum capacity for most of the evening.

In a change from previous years, Rhythm and Vines 2015 has presented a wider selection of music genres, from folk rock to bass heavy music. New Year's Eve highlights included some of New Zealand's music royalty joining the stage, with the likes of Scribe and P-Money pumping out a powerful hour set, David Dallas playing out the last set of 2015, and Dave Dobbyn joining Hollie Smith on stage during her performance of her No.1 track Bathe in the River.

Aussie indie folk rock duo Angus & Julia Stone proved to be real crowd favourites, while a cutting-edge line-up of Pendulum & Verse, Concord Dawn and SWTMXKDS kept the masses entertained until the first sunrise of the New Year.

Even though in its 13th year, 2015 was a year of many firsts for Rhythm and Vines. R&V are quite possible the first music festival in the world to successfully fuse together the worlds of Freestyle Motocross and music. Kiwi FMX Motocross rider Nick Franklin wowed the crowds with his dare devil stunts and tricks over the Vines stage.

The new comedy component 'Giggle and Vines', presented each afternoon by six talented Kiwi comedians, was a roaring success. Audiences kept getting bigger over each of the three days, and plans are already in motion to expand the Giggle and Vines brand into a New Zealand-wide roadshow.

Not to be outdone by the strong line-up of musical talent, Rhythm and Vines hosted a stream of New Zealand's best food trucks, giving punters some of the best festival grub in Rhythm and Vines history. Street Food Collective and The Food Truck Garage were just a few of the food vendors who made their way down from Auckland.

With 2015 done and dusted, and universal feedback confirming this new direction as an unqualified success, the team are now starting their planning for Rhythm and Vines 2016. Stay tuned.

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