{"id":306794,"date":"2026-02-28T17:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T17:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/306794\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T17:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T17:35:08","slug":"the-last-splore-the-end-of-a-cultural-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/306794\/","title":{"rendered":"The last Splore, the end of a cultural chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many things have been written about Splore. Splores past and this one, the last. It was my fourth time at T\u0101papakanga Regional Park. I have camped, glamped and I have vamped. I\u2019ve worked there twice, at the Listening Lounge with journalist Russell Brown, and I took my kids there when they were 12 \u2013 it\u2019s always been free for the actual kids. I wrote about wearing my mother\u2019s black dress for the 2020 festival themed \u201cMother\u201d<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Many things have been written about the costumes, the music, the artistry and the magnificence of the entire production; the sustainability which isn\u2019t presented as virtual signalling whacked over your head. It\u2019s pragmatic, it\u2019s smooth.<\/p>\n

Many have written on social media and in longer-form stories about dancing in the ocean while watching a local or international act perform on the mainstage or of finding a place under a trippily-lit tree and staring at the dazzling night sky.<\/p>\n

Many, like those young women on the dancefloor at the Lagoon, told me this was their first time here and were somewhat dismayed that they\u2019d waited till the very last one to experience it.<\/p>\n

But what is most striking about Splore is that as a woman I have never felt adrift or unsafe. I\u2019m not sure how many women, young or old, at festivals where thousands of people are in altered states, could say that. Alcohol is there, but the prevailing vibe is one of caring and consideration.<\/p>\n

At Splore I have seen incredible artists like Dizzee Rascal, Sister Nancy, Lady Shaka, The Pharcyde, Aroha and MC Tali. Sampha, Fat Freddy\u2019s Drop and Benny Salvador. Lady Flic, Loggcabin and halfqueen. Jazz, hip hop, reggae, pop, R&B and indie artists. <\/p>\n

Artists come from around the world \u2013 Sweden, Jamaica, the UK, Norway, France and Spain. I have been introduced to new music and danced to old favourites. And amid all this was extraordinarily curated visual art, a wellness tent for yoga, really beautiful food and shady p\u014dhutukawa to hide from the sun. I\u2019ve never been there when it rained and I missed the year of the cloudburst when Erykah Badu took the stage. Legends have played there, and been made there. Plenty of legends, yes, but no strangers and no cynicism.<\/p>\n

It started with the kaupapa, built on a bedrock of collective care and partnership. At the p\u014dwhiri on Friday, Ng\u0101ti Paoa and Ng\u0101ti Whangaunga, the mana whenua, welcomed the international guests and all who were there. It\u2019s always a moving experience but this time, for the final Splore, it was emotionally charged. <\/p>\n

Pita Turei (Ng\u0101ti Paoa) spoke of the \u201ctreaty partnership\u201d between Splore\u2019s co-founders and iwi, of the mana whenua\u2019s relationship with John Minty, a palagi, and a former Polynesian Panther and highly astute businessman; co-founder Amanda Wright and her team; and of the iwi\u2019s relationship with the crowds who have come to this place and shown love and respect. It was, he said, like saying goodbye to a lover after 20 years.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe crowd dances at the final Splore at Tapapakanga Regional Parkon February 21. Photo \/ Corey Fleming<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you say? I\u2019m going to say what I wish I\u2019d said to my lover of 20 years: that whatever happens, if I spend the rest of my life in solitude under an ancient tree, every day and night will be filled with joy because of the memories of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A friend, journalist Angela Barnett, said to me: \u201cSo what replaces Splore? Where are the intergenerational spaces where teenagers can see 60-year-olds dancing barefoot? Where nudity isn\u2019t sexualised? Where art isn\u2019t commodified?\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you replace the irreplaceable? Splore was singular for reasons impossible to list in these column inches, and its ending isn\u2019t just haere r\u0101 to another festival. We can talk about models and money, but it\u2019s really the end of a cultural chapter that truly and artfully embodied creative imagination; a place to explore and express identity, however that looked for you. A place for vitality and a broadening of the basic concept of \u201cfestival\u201d beyond dissent, beyond a rave, beyond a wasteland of discarded tents and dreams. Leave no trace.<\/p>\n

I would literally never see my friends again that night \u2013 they\u2019d flown to all the feathered, sparkly nooks of the festival. <\/p>\n

We would all reconvene at the campsite in the early hours of the new dawn and compare stories, but as I walked and danced from the Lagoon, past the main stage and up to Te Kanikani, where JessB was absolutely killing it, I met three French guys. Two were holding hands and the other was leading the way. He told me that he wished his friends could\u2019ve got married at Splore. They\u2019d never seen anything like it. They\u2019d seen the weddings that day \u2013 one of which was a couple who\u2019d first kissed at Splore 10 years ago, then had children, and finally decided they\u2019d tie the knot at the very last Splore. The French guy told me what their travel plans were while in Aotearoa, and we continued this way, talking, sharing our stories till we peeled off in different directions.<\/p>\n

On my way back, before I hit the goat track lit with neon sculptures, some living, some inanimate, I wandered to Lisa Reihana\u2019s breathtaking octopus installation Te-Wheke-a-Muturangi, sat down in the grass and thought about how fortunate I had been to come here.<\/p>\n

Splore, a word with Scottish origins, means \u201ca spirited celebration with adventurous undertones\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the end of the weekend, as the pale evening sun danced on the sea and the far-distant mountains, John Minty, now 73, talked about the legacy of Splore and of the many unsolicited remarks he\u2019d had from international artists who\u2019d come at the end of epic and arduous world tours. And they told him this was the best festival in the world. I\u2019ve been to a few elsewhere too, and they\u2019re not wrong.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing quite like an ending to remind you of the beauty and importance of something.<\/p>\n

And Splore was indeed something.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many things have been written about Splore. Splores past and this one, the last. It was my fourth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[167680,158035,665,11158,8474,24181,167683,8127,1888,1445,1668,167686,11127,685,25140,37113,5836,1362,167681,111,43,139,58330,69,1118,48211,79501,167682,167687,116914,167685,223,210,13558,1316,167684],"class_list":{"0":"post-306794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-930pm","9":"tag-adorned","10":"tag-around","11":"tag-bodies","12":"tag-chapter","13":"tag-cultural","14":"tag-daunting","15":"tag-end","16":"tag-first","17":"tag-friends","18":"tag-front","19":"tag-glitter","20":"tag-humanity","21":"tag-last","22":"tag-lights","23":"tag-looked","24":"tag-lost","25":"tag-made","26":"tag-mosh","27":"tag-new-zealand","28":"tag-news","29":"tag-newzealand","30":"tag-nightmares","31":"tag-nz","32":"tag-of","33":"tag-ones","34":"tag-realised","35":"tag-seething","36":"tag-sequins","37":"tag-splore","38":"tag-swaying","39":"tag-the","40":"tag-through","41":"tag-wall","42":"tag-when","43":"tag-wove"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}