Northern Bass festivalgoers struggle to remove vehicles from muddy fields

Festivalgoers are struggling to get their vehicles out of muddy paddocks after heavy rain belted the Northern Bass music site over the weekend.

As the country welcomed the new year, many of those at the Northland festival were waking up faced with a muddy mess.

One woman told the Herald this morning: “[They’re] struggling to pull cars out of the paddock right now.”

Photos sent in by the festivalgoer show a thick layer of mud over the grounds, as the morning sun started to rise.

Organisers said on its official Instagram page yesterday that they had switched to back-up parking plans as a result of the bad weather conditions.

Shuttle buses were put on to take people to the festival from the Mangawhai Domain on Moir St and back to their vehicles from the festival.

“We have a lot of mud on site,” a statement said.

“We are doing our best, but please be careful when you get there.”

Organisers also called it “the most challenging [event] ever experienced”.

Another festivalgoer described the muddy scenes as a “pretty horrible experience”, with tents flooded, cars stuck in the mud and drinking water and showers cut off.

Among other issues, the woman said festivalgoers with food stored in their cars have had to go without through the morning as they were barred from accessing them and hospitality options on site would not open until later in the day.

She later questioned organisers’ communication, saying some staff were allowing revellers to return to their vehicles and leave the campsite while others were not.

“Our friends all left camp in [their] cars today and are now not being let back in, and are being told to park in town and shuttle in,” she said.

Eventually, she was allowed back to her car, and faced with a swampy outlook she decided she wanted to leave.

“It’s very grim scenes here with a lot of people ditching tents and leaving,” she said.

“There are at least 20 cars already stuck in the mud and definitely more to come when everyone tries to leave tomorrow [New Year’s Day].

Photos sent in by readers show rain-sodden tents sitting on thick layers of wet mud.

People walking around in bare feet can be seen with mud reaching towards their knees.

In another image, festival crew members wearing gumboots carry wooden pallets to make a make-shift pathway for people to walk on, instead of the muddy grass.

Today’s upside is that the weather forecast in the Northland region is mainly fine and will be mainly fine for the rest of the week.