Stage set for something special

Everything is ready, marquees are in and the big screens have arrived for Nelson’s brand new music festival.

Out of the Blue kicks off at Trafalgar Park tomorrow, with the first band taking the stage at midday and the music continuing until 10pm.

Showcase Nelson owner and organiser Stu Allan said preparations for the big day were going ‘‘really well’’.

The majority of the grounds were set up yesterday to prepare for artists’ sound checks this afternoon between 1pm and 6pm.

The catalyst for the festival was to show international artists that Nelson could be a venue for future concerts, he said.

‘‘We’ve got some large scale visions in terms of what we’re wanting to achieve, in terms of international artists coming to Nelson.

‘‘But this is how we start - calling upon the Nelson community to support Out of the Blue.’’

Originally estimated to host more than 8000 festival-goers, Allan said the number was now closer to 5000, ‘‘but we could get a big surprise’’.

‘‘We’re certainly behind where we wanted to be.’’

The last time Nelson hosted a large-scale music production was when Tina Turner rocked Trafalgar Park in 1997.

The risk of weather hindering the event hasn’t been without worry.

Allan said he was ‘‘freaking out’’ a week ago.

‘‘A week ago it was looking like a major tropical storm.

‘‘It is going to rain today ... but it’s showing it’s looking like its going to clear for Saturday.’’

He said there was no chance of it turning out like Rhythm & Vines, ‘‘where it turned to mud’’.

‘‘It’s worth reminding people to bring a chair because if the ground’s wet, they won’t be wanting to sit on the ground.

‘‘This event’s going ahead rain, hail or shine.’’ But don’t take your cash. A cashless system at the event has been implemented to allow for speedy transactions and little waiting time.

Festival-goers are given an electronic wrist band as a ticket, enabling money to be loaded up to pay for drinks and food from the bar and 22 food vendors.

‘‘It truly is a celebration of Kiwi artists, albeit most people might see it as an eclectic mix of different genres but they’ve all been picked for their ability to perform live.’’