Festival success seals Homegrown’s Hamilton future
Monday, 27 April 2026
It’s official: Homegrown will return to Hamilton next year and it’s set to be bigger than ever.
“People didn’t think that Hamilton could pull it off, but now they’re saying we did,” Jim Beam Homegrown chief executive Andrew Tuck said.
He’s confirmed that the festival will return to Claudelands Oval in Kirikiriroa Hamilton on April 3 2027, saying the 2026 event had an “outstanding” response.
“The venue itself was perfect. H3 and council were perfect to deal with and the response we got from the audience was outstanding both on socials and from emails.
“In many cases people think it was better than Wellington … This year set a really good foundation for growing it over the next few years.”
He’s looking to bring in another few thousand festival-goers and an extra stage, and keep growing each year.
The 2026 event brought floods of festival-goers to the city. Approximately 25,000 people attended the event, bringing a significant economic boost to the city with accommodation booked out and town buzzing after the festival.
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Tuck reckoned they would look to attract at least another 5000 people next year. He put part of their success down to Hamilton’s cost-effective location, and noted Hamilton was more accessible than Wellington. He expected this to help attract more domestic and international people.
“With the Pullman opening up and the other motels around the area and up Ulster Street being refurbished, it gives us the ability to grow and add to the event each year.
“We don’t want to do anything and suddenly be 50,000, we want to make it sustainable … We’re very mindful of not wanting to go too big and seeing how the city can handle it.
“It’s very different to a rugby game. This is a ten-hour festival and a lot of people are staying the weekend, and we now know what those people are going to be doing after.”
He reckoned the event itself went off without a hitch, the vibe was “chill and happy” and police had a quiet evening.
It was early days and Tuck said they were just starting to put together a line-up of artists, but hoped to be adding another stage next year as well as a few new “trinkets” to the performances.
From their perspective, there had been no question about keeping the Hamilton location and they were “stoked to be coming back next year and to be making this their home” for the foreseeable future.
Loyal fan registrations open 7pm on Monday 27 April, providing exclusive first access to limited loyal fan tickets which go on sale at 8am on Tuesday 5 May in celebration of New Zealand Music Month.
“As we head into our 20th year, backing Kiwi music is still at the heart of everything we do,” said Tuck. “Releasing our first loyal fan tickets during New Zealand Music Month is a chance to celebrate the industry we’re part of and the people who’ve supported us along the way.”