Homegrown’s $10m haul for city economy

Wednesday, 27 May 2026

Jim Beam Homegrown boosted Hamilton’s coffers to the tune of $10m in its first year back in the city - and organisers say the festival is set to only get bigger from here.

After glowing reviews from attendees and residents alike, the success of the country’s largest Kiwi music festival has now been mapped out economically.

An independent analysis by consultants Fresh Info found the one-day event drew 25,000 attendees to Claudelands Oval including more than 17,885 people from out of town, pumping almost $10m into the local economy.

In total, the event generated more than 24,648 visitor nights and $4.8m in tourist spending across accommodation, hospitality, retail and transport.

Hamilton City Council general manager destinations, Sean Murray, told the Waikato Times Homegrown had lived up to “high” expectations and delivered benefits far beyond the festival’s gates.

Hotels, motels, and other accommodation providers in and around Hamilton were booked out for the event, he said.

“It basically generates new business for people that would not have otherwise come to the city on that day.”

The report also found there was strong community support for the festival, with 95% of attendees satisfied and 93% of residents saying they were proud to have the event in Hamilton.

“From our point of view as a city, it just ran well,” Murray said.

“If we bring good events here that are effectively paid for by people from out of town who come and spend the money and pay the tickets and it lifts everyone’s spirits in our city, that’s a great outcome too.”

While Hamilton had always hosted events of all sizes, he’d seen an increase in interest from promoters about Claudelands Oval after Homegrown.

“I think there’s been the discovery that this is actually quite a logistically and financially easy venue.”

It was also attractive that a large portion of the country’s population - including Auckland - centred around Hamilton, he added.

The council and organisers were expecting the event to bring even more people to the venue next year.

“Thirty thousand is our target for next year, and I think it’ll be very doable,” Murray said.

Jim Beam Homegrown chief executive, Andrew Tuck, said he was “pretty stoked” to see the festival deliver economically for the city.

“Hamilton really showed that we could transform a space that people weren't expecting into something that was pretty magical.”

Bringing Homegrown back to Hamilton had showcased the city on a level people weren’t used to seeing, he said.

Around 75% of festival attendees had come from outside Hamilton, with people driving to Hamilton from Auckland, Tauranga, and Coromandel and others coming from as far as Dunedin.

While many festivals catered to younger audiences, ticketing data showed more than 95% of festival goers at this year’s event were aged 25 and up, with the oldest attendee being 87-years-old - a feature Tuck saw as a strength.

“When you've got a market that's 18 to 80, you do have something for everybody, and I think that's what makes the audience so diverse.”

Tuck was tightlipped about the specifics for next year’s festival, which would be celebrating its twentieth year, but promised there were some great local acts lined up.

“We want to do something cool - we want to get a stack of people in there and really show that New Zealand music has come so far,” he said.

“We’ll add a couple of little surprises to give everybody something a little different that they’re not expecting.”

Despite no acts having been announced yet, there was already a huge amount of momentum, with more than 1000 nights of accommodation already booked in the city.

Pre-sale releases had done well, with Loyal Fan tickets selling out in less than 10 minutes and Super Early Bird allocations disappearing shortly after.

“It went a lot better than we were ever expecting,” Tuck admitted.

After huge demand for tickets, Homegrown will close out New Zealand Music Month with one last early bird release.

The limited allocation of tickets will go on sale at 8am on Thursday 28 May and run until the end of the month or until sold out.

Fans must register by midnight Wednesday 27 May to access the release.

Homegrown will return to Claudelands Oval on April 3 2027.