Whangamata Beach Hop

The Whangamata Beach Hop is an event held in the town of Whangamata, on the southeast coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand.

The first Beach Hop Whangamata Event was held in April 2001 and was established to coincide with the local Rock and Roll Club's birthday hop, which was bringing people to the town. A group of people established a one-day festival, and it is estimated that around 6,000 people attended, including many from out of town. NZ$3000 was raised from this event, which was donated to the Onemana and Whangamata Surf Life Saving Clubs, as well as the Whangamata Volunteer Coastguard.

The 2002 Beach Hop Festival put Whangamata on the map for its rock and roll clubs, bands, hot rods, classic cars and motorcycles. It is estimated that over 10,000 people attended the festival, making it one of the largest events in the Coromandel area. Entrants were received from overseas, and from as far away as Wellington and Kaitaia. The event was featured in a number of national publications, and over $20,000 was raised for water safety organisations in the area.

Beach Hop 2003 was held April 25–27, 2003, with a police estimate of 25,000 people in attendance. There were a number of celebrities at the Beach Hop, including New Zealand fashion designer Trelise Cooper, and once again Gary McCormack travelled all the way up from Christchurch to be the festival MC. Nearly $30,000 was donated to the water safety benefactors. The event became the largest on the Coromandel Peninsula (by double), the largest speciality car show in New Zealand and the 2nd largest Rock’n’Roll festival in the Southern Hemisphere.

Beach Hop 2010 had a police estimate of 60,000 people in attendance.[1]

In 2017 Repco Beach Hop won the New Zealand Event Association Award for New Zealand's Favourite Event with more than 120,000 people attending.

Festival statistics
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
People600010 00025 00042 000 70 000 75 000 80 000 80 000 80 000 90k 90k 90k 90k 100k 110k 120k 120k+
Classic cars1003007001300 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200
Bikes100300360400 300 300 300 300 300 200 200 200 150 150 100 100 100
Funds raised (NZD)300020 00030 00017 000 20k 25k 30k 30k 25k 38k 40k 35k 40k 40k 40k 40k 40k

References
  1. "More Police means fewer arrests at Whangamata Beach Hop". News Centre. New Zealand Police. 28 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.