The Ultimate Guide to Earth Beat Festival What to bring, need-to-knows and knowledge to fully thrive at EB2023.
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Haere mai! Welcome to Earth Beat Festival.
If you’re reading this, we hope you’re joining us at our beautiful celebration of music, art and connection. To help you have the best, most immersive and transformative time at Earth Beat, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide. Familiarise yourself, screenshot it on your phone or add our tips to your notes.
Firstly… What to Pack? DOCUMENTS & MONEY Remember your ticket! Please download your ticket to your phone before you arrive. You can show this on your phone at the entrance to have your QR code scanned. But please be mindful that reception can be a bit patchy in a field, so it’s best to take a screenshot of the QR code shown on your ticket. It will be stored in your images on your phone, so won’t need reception to access it. You can also print your ticket – but be mindful of the environment and only do this if it’s absolutely necessary. We’re cash and EFTPOS-friendly, but we do ask that you bring cash with you if you’re planning on using it. We have very limited cash withdrawal limits onsite. We don’t require a vaccine pass for your entry to and enjoyment of Earth Beat. We welcome all people and pass no judgement towards whatever decision you’ve made for your body. CLOTHING With Aotearoa’s weather being such an unpredictable (beautiful) beast, it can be difficult to know what to pack for a festival.
If you’re packing your fanciest, frilliest, most colourful costumes – great! But you’ll also need to pack the boring bits, so refer to the list below and check you’ve got the essentials.
Comfy clothes Wet weather clothes (anorak, gumboots/wellies) Cooler clothes for hot days Swimwear Costumes that make you feel the most ‘you’ Jandals/flip-flops and comfy sneakers Satchel or waist-bag to keep your precious things Hat and sunglasses Warm clothes and plenty of socks (nobody likes wet feet!) CAMPING BITS (FOR TENTS, SLEEPER VEHICLES, CARAVANS AND RVS) All vehicles will need a vehicle pass. If you’re sleeping in your vehicle make sure you have your small or large sleeper vehicle pass. If you’re camping in a tent, please purchase and download your parking pass.
Reef-friendly, eco-conscious sunscreen Eco-conscious insect repellent If you’re camping, bring a waterproof tent, and a pillow, mattress and warm duvet or sleeping bag (the nights are cold at this time of the year) A few towels to dry off Torch or a headlamp (with spare batteries!) Ear plugs, plus earmuffs for children or for those with sensitive ears Eco-friendly hand sanitiser (please don’t bring wet wipes, unless they’re home compostable or essential for your baby) Your preferred contraception Biodegradable toothpaste, soap and hair wash (we love shampoo bars and blocks of soap!) If you’re glamping, you will be guided to your tent on arrival. Please bring your own towels.
REUSABLES FOR EATING & DRINKING Refillable water bottle (there is free water available on-site) Plate, bowl, cutlery, cup/mug and a reusable straw if you use one (we are a zero-waste event, so stallholders do not provide disposable dinnerware) COOKING We understand you might want to cook your own food. As fire poses a risk to the surrounding environment, please be mindful if you’re using a gas cooker. Never cook inside your tent or if it’s really windy.
Getting To and Arriving Earth Beat? Our Address Earth Beat is held in the Ātiu Creek Regional Park. To get here, this is the address: 414 Run Road, Auckland, 0977, New Zealand. See the Google Maps link.
The Kaitiaki of the Land We thank the ancestors and beautiful souls of Ngāti Whātua (Te Uri-o-Hau) for allowing us to host this festival on this magical land.
When to Arrive, When to Depart We know you might want to set up your tent as early as possible (it’s exciting!), but please note that gates don’t open until noon on Wednesday, 22nd of March. Gates close at 9pm on the same day, so please make sure you arrive before then. We’ll be holding our opening ceremony at 5pm, so try not to miss it!
There are 5 camping areas, including quiet and family camping areas. When you arrive, you’ll be directed to a suitable campground based on your party’s needs.
The festival wraps up on Sunday 26th March, so you’ll need to pack up and leave the site by 9pm. The exception to this is if you have an Extended Camping pass, which allows you to stay at the site after the festival, camping for an extra two nights (Sunday and Monday).
Note: If you’d like to stay on after the Extended Camping period (from Tuesday night onwards), you’ll need to book directly through Auckland Council.
Accessibility We’re a wheelchair-friendly festival, and camping with a wheelchair is welcomed. When you arrive, please chat to one of our friendly team members and they’ll guide you to an accessible camping spot.
About the Region Located on the eastern edge of the Kaipara Harbour, Ātiu Creek Regional Park is a diverse landscape boasting 640,000 hectares. We’re thankful to host Earth Beat in an area that’s not just beautiful but ecologically rich; rolling hills, native forests and wetlands border Aotearoa’s largest estuary. Birdlife such as weweia and pāteke call the park home, and trees such as kauri and pohutukawa sink their roots into the earth. It’s a privilege to walk on this whenua.
AT EARTH BEAT FESTIVAL Drugs & Alcohol At Earth Beat, we don’t believe substances are the problem – but rather, the culture surrounding substances. This is how we’ve decided to be 100% alcohol and substance-abuse-free. To read more about this decision and to understand our ethos, head here .
So, can I bring alcohol to Earth Beat? No, please don’t. We’ll have alcohol available for purchase in limited quantities, so bringing extra waste into the space (we’re glass-free) isn’t allowed. Cars will be searched on arrival.
Bringing PETS As Earth Beat is located in Ātiu Creek regional park, protecting the land and environment is a huge priority for us. This is why we don’t allow anyone to bring their pets. We know it can be hard to leave furry friends behind, so we suggest finding a pet sitter whom you trust to look after them while you’re at the festival.
Festival Self-Care Natural Care Tipi Although we hope you have a fun, free and safe festival experience, things can go wrong at any gathering. That’s why we have our Natural Care Tipi. It’s a warm environment, run by a team of professionally-trained natural healthcare practitioners. Warm herbal tea, plant medicine, first aid, sun protection, menstrual products and contraception are all available here in the Natural Care Tipi.
If anything more serious were to occur, we have several first-aid resources available to assist in this scenario.
Respecting Everyone’s Peace Please don’t bring your own sound system. To entertain you throughout the day and into the night, we have a couple of large sound systems on the site that will keep you grooving as you move between live shows. When these sound systems turn off for the night, we appreciate some quiet time.
If you do want to contribute to the music, we invite you to bring your own instrument (or singing voice) to have a jam around the main fires or with people at your campsite. We are a family-friendly festival though, so if everyone else is sleeping, put the guitar down until morning.
Caring For Kids If you’re bringing children along to the festival, wonderful! We love being a family-friendly festival. But we do ask that you don’t leave your tamariki unattended. For their safety, please keep them with you or nearby (but not out of sight) at all times. That way, it’s a safer festival for everybody.
Community Hub To nourish community connection and togetherness, we’ve created a meeting point for campers to connect, cook together, chill out and have fun.
Think of it like a village square; it’s a place to gather, share resources, socialise, and have deep, meaningful, and also light-hearted interactions within the camping areas.
There will be wash stations, shower and toilet facilities, shade structures and a few community self-hosted zones for discussion, play, creativity and more.
Respect for Our Differences The beauty of Earth Beat is in our differences. We allow space for your authentic self, and we consciously celebrate our differences.
If you’d like to understand more about what freedom really means at Earth Beat, we’ve written a detailed blog about this very thing. This quote, by Vernā Myers, also sums up our thoughts on inclusion:
“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.”
Vernā Myers Still Unsure Of Something? If you still have questions ahead of coming to Earth Beat, please feel free to flick us an email or send us a DM on Instagram
If you’d love to join us at Earth Beat Festival, but don’t have your pass yet, you can look at our ticket options here .
