Four Festivals Head to Auckland North Shore This Christmas

Four independent music festivals will operate in the Matakana and Kaiwaka regions of North Auckland from December 28 to January 2. Hidden Valley, Northern Bass, Matakanarama, and AUM have released their 2026 dates and pricing, offering local residents and visitors options ranging from one-day events to multi-day camping trips.

Hidden Valley is scheduled for Sunday, December 27, in Matakana. The one-day event costs $210 and features artists including Dimension, Armand Van Helden, and Skin on Skin. The festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary, a milestone that generated significant buzz in 2025 despite logistical challenges and heavy rain during the previous year's event. Organizers have maintained the price point, hoping improved planning will justify the cost for attendees.

Northern Bass will run for two days at Kaiwaka from December 30 to December 31. This is the festival's 15th year. General admission presale tickets are $209.90, while the third release is $309.90. A two-day camping pass costs an additional $79.90. The lineup includes Andy C, Tonn Piper, Culture Shock, and JME. The event features two stages and focuses heavily on drum and bass, electronic, and jungle genres. Attendees have previously noted that the two-stage layout allows for easier crowd navigation, though music preferences vary among fans.

Matakanarama is a three-day camping festival held in Leigh on the Matakana Coast from December 29 to December 31. The event started as a small flat party and now hosts approximately 1,500 attendees. A three-day pass is $309, with a camping pass costing $79. The festival emphasizes a community-centric atmosphere, organizing house games that place attendees into random teams. The 2026 lineup includes Park Rd, Troy Kingi, and Cruze Control. Music at the two stages, Main Stage and Kawakawa Stage, is described as groovy and underground.

AUM, which stands for Authentic Unified Movement, will take place at Leightons Farm in Parakai from December 30 to January 2. Founded in 2014, the event is a three-day camping experience costing $450, which includes camping. The festival features four stages and a visual art roster with over 30 artists. It is designated as a waste-free event and allows attendees to bring their own alcohol, provided it is in containers other than glass. The main stage, White Stag, changes musical themes each night, while other stages focus on house, techno, live performance, and bass music.

These events are part of a wider festival season in the Southern Hemisphere. While other regional festivals like Rhythm and Vines in Gisborne and Famous Last Words in Tauranga are also scheduled for late December, the North Auckland cluster offers concentrated options for those looking to stay closer to the city. Hidden Valley and Northern Bass are geographically close, leading some attendees to combine tickets for consecutive days. Organizers for all four North Auckland events have released their final lineup details, with further additions expected as the dates approach.