Love, sun and sounds as "One Love 2023" near capacity...

After a two year "rest" it's time to bring out the love and hopefully the sun as the One Love Festival makes it's post Covid return. Promoter Glenn Meikle gives us a quick overview of hows things are shaping up.

Why do you think Kiwis have such a love of reggae?

Reggae music is a universal genre that brings people of all ages and backgrounds together. The topics are relatable and the music and the beats are feel-good, sparking positive vibes. It’s also a genre that goes hand-in-hand with summer in New Zealand. 

Did you discover any new talent you’re especially excited about when booking the festival?

We are excited for all performers on the One Love line-up this summer. We have a good mix of established and rising musicians who are just as excited to be part of the event as we are to have them. To have artists such as UB40 featuring Ali Campbell is a major coup and with the success that L.A.B has had and continues to have they are sure to be a crowd favourite over the two days. The Coterie boys have had a brilliant year in 2022 and we’re glad to be part of their 2023 journey. Katchafire, Kolohe Kai, Sean Kingston, Fiji and Stan Walker are all crowd favourites. 

Tell us a bit about the production undertaking and behind the scenes logistics? 

Organising One Love is a massive yet rewarding task and planning begins a good year in advance. We spend countless hours and many months on logistics - from securing artists, ensuring we can meet each of theirs and their crews’ needs, setting up, securing and confirming staff, vendors and catering, ticketing, site mapping, health and safety and much, much more. Setting up the stage and venue can take close to a week alone, and that is just one small part of what it takes to run a major festival that can attract crowds of about 20,000 people.

What do you see as the points of difference to the festival and are there any new features this year?

One Love is New Zealand’s biggest reggae festival, so it really is a one of a kind event that is loved by Kiwis all over New Zealand and abroad. We will always do post evaluations after each event and to see if there are any improvements we can make before the next one - and this will be the case for One Love, too. 

Can you give us the lo down on ticket availability?

Every day we move closer to reaching capacity. We have about 5 per cent of tickets left and we have no doubt One Love 2023 will sell-out. 

The 2023 line-up includes: 

UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, L.A.B, Kolohe Kai, J-Boog, Fiji, Sean Kingston, Maoli, Rebel Souljahs, Katchafire, Stan Walker, Sons of Zion, Steel Pulse, House of Shem, Ardijah, 1814, Tomorrow People, Coterie, Three Houses Down, General-Fiyah, Victor J Sefo, Standrd, Lion Rezz, Brotherhood, Krisy Erin, Mikey Mayz, NLC, Commun Unity, TJ & Huri

Tauranga Moana Jan 28-29th 2023

Click Here for Tickets