The Sound of Summer

The sound of music will herald the arrival of summer to Waihi Beach and Bowentown with the annual Summer Kick-off Festival at ANZAC Bay/Waipaopao on 2 December.

The event features music, good coffee and food stalls, colourful bunting in the pohutakawa trees and activities for the children. A magic day. The opportunity to dance to great music while looking out across the bay at stunning sea and headland views is not to be missed.

For the upcoming festival, the entertainment will feature The Harmonic Resonators, Stylus, and Matty and The Bux Tones. The proceedings begin with a powhiri, featuring kapahaka and waiata from the Waihi Beach School and storytelling by Reon Tuanau from Te Whanau a Tauwhao-Whakatau. The kaupapa for the day is “He oranga taiao, he oranga tangata” (A healthy environment, a healthy people).

After the powhiri The Harmonic Resonators will start the party. With an army of followers online and a recent national tour under their belts, The Harmonic Resonators have developed a huge following. The whanau band features Waiata Maori and party classics with lush harmonies, yodels, and energetic jams. These have made them famous on the internet, where they have appeared with the Topp Twins, Dennis Marsh and a host of other Aotearoa musical luminaries.

Mid-afternoon, Stylus will lay down their funk and soul styles with flavours of Polynesian reggae. Te Puke based, for the past three years, Stylus have played at the Te Kete Matariki Festival, playing to 10,000 people, opening for 1814, Ardijah and Ria Hall. Front- man Sam Hema loves that Stylus, like Harmonic Resonators, is a whanau band.

“Over the past three years,” says Sam Hema, “we have had the younger members of our whanau come into the band. It’s such a natural, cool development for Stylus.”

Late afternoon Matty and The Bux Tones will close out the programme. Led by Matty Buxton and Regan Perry, the ace five- piece band have been together for five years and become a part of the Mount Maunganui/Mauao music culture.

“We have had a successful show at Totara Street and have been recording our EP Either Way at Studio 11B working with producer Nathan Souter,” says Matty Buxton. “We were lucky to get a NZ On Air artist development grant and lately we have really found our flow.”The band embark on a summer tour on the back of the ANZAC Bay festival.

Bring along your family for a day of summer fun and music at the beach!