Hastings, New Zealand is preparing for its New Year’s Eve celebrations, featuring fireworks displays, live music, and the ongoing Fiesta of Lights. Mayor Richard McGrath will ring in 2026 with the Veronica Bell, marking the culmination of the evening’s festivities.
New Year’s Eve Entertainment in Hastings
The evening will include two fireworks displays. The first, geared towards families, is scheduled for 9:45 p.m. and will be accompanied by music accessible via the Pyrocast app using codes DXTY for the Kids Show and ZPZ2 for the midnight display.
Local musicians will take the stage, including rising star Ella Pollett, whose single Losing My Mind reached No. 1 on the Hot 20 Aotearoa New Zealand-artists Singles List in October and No. 26 on the Hot 40 Singles chart in November. Auckland-based covers band White Chapel Jak, who first performed at the event in 2019, will also return.
Additional local talent performing includes Devils Elbow, Sophie Jean Dance Company, and Urban Dukes.
Fiesta of Lights and Mahia Hotspot
The Fiesta of Lights at Tomoana Showgrounds will feature Napier covers band Pulse, starting at 8:30 p.m. The fiesta, a tradition dating back to the start of the millennium, will close at 11 p.m. after more than three weeks of nightly displays, illuminated by over 20km of fairy lights.
Promoter Te Rangi Huata anticipates approximately 3,000 attendees, many of whom are expected to leave immediately following the fireworks.
In Northern Hawke’s Bay, Mahia is preparing for increased visitors with a bolstered police presence led by Constable Chad Prentice. The focus will be on alcohol offense prevention and road safety. Many campers who were present for Christmas have departed, some heading to the Rhythm & Vines festival near Gisborne.
Mahia enforces a midsummer ban on public alcohol consumption, and the local pub will close at 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
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