Parachute music festival

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Parachute Music Festival
Origin Mystery Creek, Hamilton, New Zealand
Years active 19
Label(s) Parachute Music Ltd.

The Parachute Music Festival is a Christian music festival held annually at Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand. It lasts for three nights and four days, featuring both music and a wide variety of other entertainment.

It is usually held in the last or second to last week in January (whichever Auckland Anniversary day falls on) being summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The festival is run by Parachute Music, a Christian company that has several divisions, including a record label (and publisher), Management and Booking services for artists as well as organising the Parachute Festival. Parachute Music also organise noise training events aimed at musicians, songwriters and technical people.

The Festival hopes to attract up to 30,000 visitors, who mostly stay on-site in tents, each year.

Mainstage at The Parachute Music Festival. The white area is used as a projector screen and a large line array is hidden behind.

Contents

[edit] About

The Parachute Music Festival is an event aimed at a wide demographic, ranging from families to teenagers. Being a Christian based event, there are strictly enforced rules of no drugs or alcohol and, unless married, men and women are not allowed to share tents.

The Festival was originally called Mainstage and was held at El Rancho Christian Holiday Camp, Waikanae. In 1995 it was renamed Parachute and moved to Totara Springs Christian Centre, Matamata.

[edit] Stages

Since the Parachute Festival was created, it has grown to incorporate 8 stages[1], including:

  • Mainstage
  • The Palladium
  • Deluxe
  • The Hangar (Kids)
  • Debut Stage
  • The Dome (Pre-Teens by day)/The White Elephant (by night)
  • Massive
  • The Seminar Space

At the 2000 and 2001 Parachute Festival there was also a separate 'festival within a festival' dedicated to electronic and dance music in its various forms. The N'Dorphin Village was created by members of Dance Generation and featured continuous DJing and live electronica acts, along with urban dance culture elements such as break dancing performances and live Hip Hop.

[edit] Other Attractions

Other events at the Festival include:

  • Amusement rides and attractions
  • Water Slide
  • Paintball
  • Skate Park

[edit] Headline acts

Popular local bands that have regularly played at Parachute include Mumsdollar, My Life Story, Trigger Theory, Steriogram, The Lads, Brooke Fraser, Rapture Ruckus, juliagrace, Kingston, Late 80's Mercedes, Arms Reach, Moped, Form and Parachute Music's own Parachute Band.

Representing dance and electronic music have been DJs and MCs including Andy Hunter, Tim Richards, Andy Pulzar, Dr Siminz, Paul Spain/MC Preacher Boy and DJ U-gene. Hawk Nelson were also scheduled to play in 2007 and 2008 but double bookings prevented them from making it.

[edit] Compilation CDs

Compilation CDs of songs by artists that perform at the festival have been created since 1997.
Main article: Parachute Music Festival Compilation CDs

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Parachute Programme
Personal tools