Summer concert on the move

The Gibbston valley concert has a new home over the hill in Wānaka.

Greenstone Entertainment has confirmed the long-running summer concert will move over the Crown Range to a brand new purpose-built outdoor arena venue at Three Parks in Wānaka, which will open in time for the summer.

More than 15,000 people attend the concert each year, which has welcomed huge veteran acts such as ZZ Top, Crowded House, and Alanis Morissette over past 15 years, and saw Cold Chisel, Icehouse, Bic Runga and Everclear take to the stage back in January.

It brings around $12 million in economic benefit to the region each year.

But Greenstone owners Amanda and Dean Calvert have been on the search for a new venue since being told the Gibbston site was being developed for housing.

Three Parks Outdoor Arena, owned by prominent businessman Allan Dippie, will now be its home for the next five years at least.

"We're absolutely delighted to have secured Three Parks Outdoor Arena as our new home for the next five years," Amanda Calvert, Founder and CEO of Greenstone Entertainment, says.

"Allan is such a community driven person and without his foresight the concert would have likely moved away from the region. The expansion into Wānaka marks an exciting new chapter for us, and we're confident it will become a highlight of the South Island summer calendar."

 

Dean Calvert says it's been a difficult search for a new venue.

"We started the whole thing back in 2011 in Gibbston and have built the concert into one of the most renowned for our demographic in the country," he says.

"But the region has been on that journey with us, and with that development, it's been extremely hard to find anything that was suitable because land is so valuable now.

"And it's not just the concert site, it's the infrastructure needed to bring 15,000 people to that site. We move 4000 people by bus, we've got helicopters that arrive, on site parking.

"We hadn't been able to find anything and were on our way out of town, looking at places near Christchurch, when Allan popped up and said 'come and have a look at this venue'."

Wānaka's Three Parks had recently hosted 65,000 people for the successful Wheels at Wānaka event over Easter weekend. 

Greenstone have applied for resource consent for a 30,000 capacity, although Dean says they're unlikely to hit that number. Gibbston had consent for 20-25,000. The consent application is currently being vetted by Queenstown Lakes District Council.

There were traffic issues around three-day Wheels at Wanaka event. A full traffic management plan has been drawn up for the concert consent and Dean says the site provides better access than Gibbston, on a notorious stretch of SH6.

It's good to have a large capacity when you're trying to attract international acts, he says.

"New Zealand is far away from everywhere, and these acts could do three or four concerts in the US in the time it takes to fly here and back," Dean says.

"When they do come here though, they absolutely fall in love with the region."

He doesn't think people will be reluctant to travel the extra 30-40 minutes or so over the hill to Wānaka from Queenstown, while the venue will be closer for many travelling from around South Island.

"We're not too concerned. If you look at the size of Wānaka's A&P Show, Wheels at Wānaka and Warbirds Over Wanaka [International Airshow], people are prepared to travel.

"And it means we're staying in the district. It's tremendous to be able to put some certainty around that, as it's a key economic driver. That $12m economic impact we bring gives us a lot of satisfaction and is great for local suppliers and the community."

Buses will be put on for people attending the festival, which will employ around 200 people directly.

The venue is a three-minute drive from central Wānaka and just over an hour from Queenstown by car, with ample car and campervan parking on site. It also has a picturesque mountainous backdrop.

Allan Dippie says the venue is thrilled to be teaming up with Greenstone Entertainment.

"Their impeccable track record for putting on world class events that attract major international artists have made this joint venture an easy decision.

"Three Parks Outdoor Arena will offer a true outdoor amphitheatre experience like no other and we look forward to welcoming concert goers next year."

Full dates for the 2026 Greenstone Summer Concert tour will be announced very soon, with the full artist line-up to be confirmed shortly after. Sign up to greenstoneentertainment.co.nz to be the first in the know.