Two new Wellington festivals promised this summer

Monday, 10 November 2025

The High Tide festival was held on Saturday at Waitangi Park for the first time after three years at Lower Hutt’s McEwan Park. Two new Wellington festivals have been hinted at for this summer.

WellingtonNZ is teasing at least two new central city music festivals this summer.

In talking to the economic development agency’s annual report, WellingtonNZ chief executive Mark Oldershaw dropped the news that the coming weeks would see the announcement of at least two new music festivals this summer in central Wellington.

He could not reveal more details but said – like the annual Homegrown festival, which has now ended an 18-year stint in Wellington – the idea was to start the festivals small and grow them from there.

WellingtonNZ chief executive Mark Oldershaw says the idea for any new music festivals is to start them small and grow from there.

The loss of waterfront Homegrown festival, with the last one in March, is one of many recent hits for the capital struggling with public service job cuts, sluggish hospitality and stagnant population growth.

But the WellingtonNZ 2024-25 annual report shone some limited positivity on the city.

Council-controlled organisation WellingtonNZ is 80% owned by the Wellington City Council and 20% by the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Its goal is to support “economic performance across the region to enhance prosperity, vibrancy and liveability for the people who live and work in the region”.

Among its jobs is marketing Wellington to visitors, migrants and investors, as well as helping businesses grow while attracting and promoting major events.

The report claims the direct impact of the organisation’s activities resulted in $203 million flowing into the region in the last financial year. While that number was up slightly on target, it was down $27m on the previous year.

Oldershaw said this was because the previous years was buoyed by the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The year saw more International visitors pass through Wellington Airport, spending $25m more than a year earlier. However, that was tempered by a $63m drop in domestic tourism spending.

The report says the average wage of a Wellington worker is $87,400. WellingtonNZ had 49 employee earning more than $100,000 with seven on more than $200,000. The top earner was on up to $360,000 – almost twice the $189,799 salary earned by mayor Andrew Little.

Little said attracting more visitors to the city was a big part of the city’s economic recovery.

“I trust the board of WellingtonNZ to make sensible decisions about remuneration for senior staff, and I’m confident they’ll be cognisant of market conditions for senior roles.

“It’s good to see positive results being reported by WellingtonNZ, and its contribution to Wellington’s economy amid tough conditions.

Councillor Ray Chung was last week appointed as the chairperson of the committee overseeing council-controlled organisations, including WellingtonNZ, for the first 18 months of the three-year term.

When asked for comment about the WellingtonNZ annual report and pay rates, Chung said a joint statement would be coming from him and Little. In fact, the statement came from Little alone.

“It isn’t good to have two different statements saying two different things,” Chung said.