Nelson City Council set to bring Bay Dreams South back to Nelson for five years

Nelson is set to become a regular on the international music festival scene, with Council in negotiations to bring Bay Dreams South back to Nelson for the next five years.

More than 20,000 fans (mostly from outside the region) attended the Festival in January 2019, which featured a star-studded line-up including Tash Sultana, Shapeshifter and Cardi B.

Mayor Rachel Reese says Council is enthusiastic about the prospect of Bay Dreams South becoming a regular fixture in Nelson, following last summer’s very successful event.

“The January 2019 event was a huge success, and we're keen to share our city and region with visitors again so they can experience the manaakitanga we are famous for. 

"It was an absolute blast to welcome 20,000 young people to our city, many of whom were visiting for the first time.

“We look forward to progressing the opportunity with Festival Director Toby Burrows. His team and all the volunteers involved were a pleasure to work alongside, and we can see this festival developing further as a key event on the New Zealand music calendar," Mayor Reese says.

For Bay Dreams Festival Director Toby Burrows, returning to Nelson makes perfect sense.

“It was such a popular event last time, selling out in a few weeks. It was a no brainer to look to return the event to Nelson regularly,” Burrows says.

“Nelson is a great holiday destination and having the event at the Trafalgar Centre and Trafalgar Park venues so close to the city centre, with the stunning sea views, make for an epic setting to host a large scale music festival of this nature.”