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Juicy Fest Tauranga has been cancelled

Much-hyped festival Juicy Fest Tauranga has been cancelled due to bad weather conditions in the Bay of Plenty. The announcement made via Facebook and Instagram this morning has gathered more than 2700 reactions and shares, with many commenters expressing anger at the decision.

Yesterday's Juicy Fest Napier show went ahead in wet weather, however, the decision to cancel tonight's show was made due to “safety concerns”.

“It is simply too dangerous to host the event with the weather conditions. The Health and Safety of our patrons, crew and artists is our highest priority. We are heartbroken, this was expected to be one of our biggest shows of the tour,” posted the Juicy Festival team to their social media pages.

One commenter shared an unverified screenshot that appears to have come from the Juicy Fest Instagram account, promising the show will go ahead in “rain, hail or snow”, which has since gathered more than 400 likes and reactions.

Another commenter posted, “I think at the end of the day you should have had some kind of back up for these kinds of situations,” going on to explain that Tauranga will miss out on their “once in a lifetime moment” with the artists. Many others also left complaints about the cancellation, as although tickets are promised to be refunded, accommodation and travel costs will likely leave them out of pocket.

The show's lineup included 2000s R&B and hip-hop artists Nelly, Ne-Yo, Chingy, Lloyd, Bow Wow, Xzibit, Pretty Ricky, Mya and Twista.

Some would-be concertgoers were upset to learn that the cancelled show’s tickets are non-transferable to other Juicy Fest shows around the country, as the Palmerston North, Auckland and Whangarei shows are still playing at this stage.

“Our team have been on-site through the night and the decision to cancel has been made this morning. We trust you understand this call was not made lightly but safety is our highest concern.”

A wave of wet weather and high winds has hit most of the motu this week, bringing an early end to the summer holiday season. Residents and holiday makers in Coromandel and Northland were urged by MetService earlier this week to return home or to safe accommodation ahead of the inbound weather system, which since landing has damaged roads and caused flooding.

Months before the shows, Juicy Fest’s announcement sent alarm bells ringing across social media, with people doubting the legitimacy of the festival.

Māori entrepreneur Rawiri Nelson (Te Arawa) and co-founder of the much-anticipated hip-hop and R&B summer festival fronted teaomāori.news to clear up the circulating rumours.

“When you are dealing with a new brand, you’re going to face people that have something to say about their beliefs and if it’s real because it hasn’t happened yet,” he clarified.

“My question to that: Why is it so hard to think that a couple of young Māori, Polynesian boys can pull off something like this?"

“It’s 100% real.”

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