The Rogue Stage Folk Music Fest

The Rogue Folk Festival is happening again in March 2015
A celebration of folk music and the joy of giving!

The festival is held in Kaingaroa Forest at a forest school camp near Kerosene Creek, Waiotapu, Rotorua. It is 3 hrs drive from Auckland, less than an hour from Taupo. It is secluded and for the Folk Music Festival it becomes like a little village. Musicians are traveling from Lyttelton, Christchurch, Auckland, Coromandel, Hamilton, Taupo, Australia and Rotorua to be part of this boutique little festival. This is the second year of its existence and it is growing fast in popularity. Tickets are limited to 200 this year.

Waiotapu Forest School camp is located behind Rainbow Mountain. It has basic facilities - flushing loos, hot showers, cabins and sites for camping. It can host 150 people comfortably. There is a hall for dining, a commercial kitchen with a freezer, lockable storage, a gas hob & oven you can use to cook your own food. A dedicated kitchen team will look after providing festival goers with simple, healthy nutritious meals for a minimum of $5 per plate (vegetarian only). BBQ area for cooking meat and you are welcome to bring your own BBQ.

Nearby - Kerosene Hot Pools, Whirinaki mountain bike trails, Rainbow Mountain summit walk, Waiotapu Tavern, Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, Hot n Cold hot pools, Waikite Valley, Waipa Mountainbike tracks and Rotorua is 30kms north of the camp.

At the camp - a stream for cooling off (beware its ice cold!), lawns for garden games, ample space for relaxing and catching up with friends. Bring your garden toys like nets and bats and lets have a match!

New to the festival - enjoy a massage and holistic healing experience from reflexologist Kirsten Whittaker, strong man yoga on Saturday morning 8am by Ian MacPherson, kids and adult yoga by Jenny Lux, adventure children activities by Wok Lilley and arts and lantern making by the talented Ally Rogers - Light up Rotorua and many other Bay of Plenty lantern festivals.

Also new to the festival is David Merritt from Landroverfarm Press. Stories and poetry for the cultured ear. Or an invitation for us to hear yours'

The line-up of NZ & Australian folk artists at the festival:

Looking for Alaska (Tokoroa) - footstomping originals and covers from Hamilton local duo. Finalists in Boot Camp at Vector Arena 2014
Kyle Taylor (Geelong) - stories from a traveling man - thoughtful lyrics, smooth vocals and sweet guitar
Sonic Delusion (Taranaki) - electro funk three piece - percussion, loop, bass and piano
Zvi (Hamilton) - soulful lyrics, fingerstyle guitar, voice that lifts
Hugh McGinlay (Melbourne) - storytelling lyrics, beautiful harmonies, down right good Aussie humor
Archer (Melbourne) - old time folk, a singer sing song man, sounds like he is more at home in 1936
The Lonesome Pines Specials (Lyttelton) - old time folk trio with three prominent Lyttelton musicians Flora Knight (from The Eastern), Hannah Harding (Aldous Harding) and Ben Woolley (Tami Neilson, Delaney Davidson, Devilish Mary and the Holy Rollers)
Bernie Griffen & Kirsten Warner (Auckland) - swamp/mangroove blues/alt country
Eyreton Hall (Auckland) - female folk, old english inspired tunes
Callum Gentleman (Auckland) - our midnight poet with stories from the underworld
Tui Folk Album of the Year 2013 & 2014 winners:
Great North (Auckland) - vocal harmonies, al capella, canvas painting one line lyrics from Hayden Donnell and Rebecca Donnell

Sound engineer: Matt Sephton from Coro Sonic Lab

Camping $5 per person per night
Cabins $5 per person per night sharing a 6 berth cabin, otherwise $30 per night if you want to book the whole cabin to yourself. Check availability first with Karin at theroguestage@gmail.com

Dogs welcome, if you promise to clean up afterwards.

Children:
Children are welcome. This is a family festival. Children under 12 are free of charge per one paying adult. Children 12 to 18 $10.

There are two ways to get there:

Take the SH5 to Taupo. Turn off at SH38 to Murupara and look out for The Rogue Folk Music Festival signs. The road is called Waikokomuka Road and used to be the old unsealed road to Murupara in the good old days.

From SH5 look out for Old Waiotapu Road after Rainbow Mountain. It is unsealed. It is also where you will find Kerosene Creek, the best free hot pools in Rotorua. There is also a gate that is locked at all times. As the person responsible for access to the forest through this gate, the gate will be open at certain times:

Friday: 4pm to 8pm
Saturday: 11am til 2pm

Please email me, Karin, theroguestage@gmail.com with any questions you may have. This event requires prior booking.