Rotokotuku Festival

Story

This festival was created out of discussions between a group of mates who play together in a band occasionally. They came up with the idea of playing a New Year gig somewhere in the central North Is, as some came from Wellington, and some from Auckland. Roly Hunt is a close friend of one of the band, Chris Thomson, so it was decided to have a festival at Roly's farm near Benneydale in 2007. This was a roaring success, and it was decided to continue to have a festival every second year. In the meantime, Roly sold his farm at Benneydale, and in partnership with Brian and Andrea Hanna, purchased the current host farm near TeKuiti. So the Rotokotuku Festival was held in 2009 and 2011, with close to 300 people at each event. A koha donation is collected from each family, and once costs are covered, donations are made to charity. In 2007 donations went to Starship Childrens Hospital , in 2009 the Wellington Mary Potter Hospice received approx $1800, and the recipient this year will be the Waikato Rescue Helicopter. A huge amount of donated time and goods make this all possible, with an army of people turning up a few days prior to set the event up.
> The reason for the event is to bring a whole lot of family and friends together for a good time , good music, and friendship. The focus is on family.