Campers at the 2024 Rhythm and Vines event. Photo: Supplied / Rhythm and Vines
With heavy traffic expected over the New Year period - much of it driven by people unfamiliar with the roads - police are urging revellers heading to Rhythm and Vines to expect delays.
"If you're on the road, remember that you're sharing it with people who might be new to the region," Tai Rāwhiti area commander Inspector Danny Kirk said on Sunday.
"While you might know the terrain, our visitors might not. We've all got places to be, but build in some extra travel time so you don't run late if you're held up by traffic or something as simple as a flat tyre."
Police would be on both main and back roads across the region, he said, focusing on "restraints, impairment, distractions and speed".
"So stay sober if you're driving, buckle up and make sure your passengers are wearing their belts, ignore the phone, and drive to the conditions.
"If we stop you, expect to be breath tested, and be warned that we're not accepting excuses for poor driving behaviour."
More than 20,000 people attend the annual New Year festival, held at the Waiohika Estate vineyard near Gisborne, each year.
In 2024, several dozen attendees were caught drink-driving on their way home on New Year's Day - despite roads in the region still considered dangerous due to damage from Cyclone Gabrielle.
Rhythm and Vines was expected to get off to a damp start, with an orange heavy rain warning issued by MetService for 18 hours from 6am on Monday morning - the festival's first official day - through to Tuesday.
Kirk said police would be "unapologetically focused" on safety, urging people to call 111 if they see "unsafe driving" or 105 to report it after the fact.
"It's the holidays, and we've all got a responsibility to make sure that we, our passengers, and everyone else on the roads gets to where we're going in one piece.
"That's our goal, and every driver plays a part in that."
Dress to the conditions
Rhythm & Vines festival director Kieran Spillane said they would be reminding festival goers to dress to the conditions, as thousands of campers streamed into the campgrounds on Sunday.
Although rain was expected on the first day of the festival, it was supposed to dry out on 30 and 31 December, he said.
"It has been very dry here in Gisborne for the last month, so there'll be plenty of soakage in the ground for the rain that does come down."
They were not expecting to have to make any adaptations to the festival despite the weather, he said.
"We'll keep an eye on what's going to happen and deal with it accordingly if we have to."
About 22,000 people were expected to be in attendance as the festival reaches full swing on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Yeah, this is our 23rd year, so we've been around a lot.
"We have a very exciting heavy metal band on tomorrow evening, which is a little bit of a new direction for us ... I'm actually really excited to see a metal band on our main stage tomorrow evening."
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