Matakanarama (Matakana, New Zealand) 2026

Matakanarama runs on Cape Rodney Road at Leigh, north of Auckland, from 29 December 2026 into the new year. The festival has built itself into one of the more distinctive New Zealand summer events, with a documentary and an official aftermovie published for each edition rather than only a highlights clip.

Leigh sits on the coast past Matakana at the entrance to the Hauraki Gulf, an hour and a half north of Auckland, in the part of Northland the city empties into over the holidays. The format runs across the turn of the year, which puts it in the small group of New Zealand festivals that programme midnight on 31 December.

Tickets are sold through Humanitix. The site is on Cape Rodney Road, reachable by road from Auckland in around 90 minutes, with Matakana village 20 minutes back for supplies and accommodation. Late December and early January in Northland is the peak of the New Zealand summer with long evenings and warm sea. For a New Zealand New Year music festival, Matakanarama has the strongest sense of itself.