Two major event organisers are eagerly awaiting updates from health officials as they look to react to the latest COVID-19 cases.
Sound Valley is scheduled for this weekend while Splore is planned for next weekend. Promoters have told Newshub they're "hoping for the best", but are prepared to postpone the events if they have to.
Three people in south Auckland tested positive for coronavirus prompting swift action from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Sunday.
Auckland was moved into alert level 3 on while the rest of the country went into level 2 as a response to the latest outbreak.
New Zealand's go early, go hard response to COVID-19 means it has been one of the few places in the world to be able to safely host large-scale concerts and festivals.
Over the past three months, events such as Six60 Saturdays, Bay Dreams, One Love, Rhythm and Vines and Hidden Valley, as well as smaller shows with international star power like Netsky, Sub Focus and Russell Howard, have attracted tens of thousands of attendees.
But promoters who have events scheduled to happen in the coming days must now await developing updates from authorities on whether or not they can safely host crowds.
Although punters may be facing disappointment, a gig not going ahead will more greatly impact the musicians, event organisers, stage technicians, artist liaisons and site builders who work relentlessly to ensure the events go off without a hitch.
Sound Valley Festival Director Gioia Damosso told Newshub the announcement on Sunday was "pretty gutting", but recognises the financial loss she stands to take is nothing compared to ensuring public safety.
The event is to be the largest music line up Whanganui has ever seen, with major Kiwi artists including Kora, Ladi6, Tiki Taane, The Black Seeds and House of Shem among others on Saturday, February 20.
The mother-of-three says she has put everything into launching Sound Valley and has been working on it solidly since the beginning of 2020.
Tired of working long hours and not spending enough time with kids, Demosso says after spotting a gap in the event space in Whanganui she left her corporate job to launch her own business.
She started her company full-time in January last year and had planned her first, the Whanganui Food and Beverage Festival, for May, but was forced to push it out until October once COVID-19 hit.
"I'm a solo mum of three, I've always wanted to get into events and wanted to work in event management after running events on the side. I felt like this was a good way to attract people to Whanganui and have some more freedom."
"We really are quite a creative and vibrant place, I wanted to create events that drew people in."
She's optimistic that Sound Valley can go ahead but will wait until Wednesday before making a call in accordance with advice from health officials.
"We always knew this was a risk but we were feeling quite confident off the back of a fantastic summer of being able to have all these wonderful events. For now, it's about staying positive. It's out of our hands but we're hoping for the best," Damosso said.
"People tend to think it's the event managers and artists who are affected but there are so many others who rely on work in this industry to feed their families. Last year alone, so many of these people took such a huge hit, and it was finally starting pick back up.
"People work on this for so long, it's a huge chunk of their time - and the other thing is you can't get insurance for COVID, but ultimately the health and safety of our community is of utmost importance."
'Big risks'
Splore Festival director John Minty told Newshub months of planning hangs in the balance but a contingency plan has always been in place and now it's a matter of waiting for definitive results before a decision can be made.
"It's a bit of a shock. It's something we've been preparing for for months, I've been literally looking at the health records every day for the past few months and we thought we're getting close, so it was looking good, but we were prepared for a potential outbreak to happen," he said.
"At this stage, we're planning on Splore happening, February 26 - 28, but the reality is by Wednesday or Thursday if we're still in level 3 or level 2 potentially, we will then make a decision as to potential postponement date."
He and his team have been taking a pragmatic approach but admits there will be sleepless nights ahead.
Splore, held in Auckland's Tāpapakanga Regional Park, expects to host 7000 people as well as accommodating another 1500, split across crew, volunteers and artists.
"It's nervous times, it's big risks promoters are taking and we're hoping we can deliver something this summer because I know everyone is amped for it, but we need to do it safely," Minty said.
"The reality is we could end up with three days of no infections, but we still could be in a level 2 situation leading up to the weekend which is cutting it very fine for us.
"You're going to have to go through the same scenario leading up to the postponed date as well; if we come back in a month's time, we're still going to have that possibility of another outbreak in the lead up to the event."
Building the festival site hasn't started yet but is expected to begin this weekend, so the pandemic information announced over the next 48 - 72 hours will determine if Splore 2021 can go ahead as planned or move to a later date.
Minty said he has "a number of options for postponement" with multiple new dates the festival could potentially be moved to.
