Laneway no longer homeless in New Zealand

Laneway Festival New Zealand will no longer need to find a new home for 2016.

Its staging since 2011 at Silo Park at Wynyard Quarter was subject to uncertainty when it was revealed the area would be turned into a residential redevelopment. 

For the past 10 months, the New Zealand arm of the Australian festival had been working with local council to move to the Domain cricket grounds. It was later revealed the Domain won’t be available in 2016, reportedly due to the grounds’ contract which allows it to stage just three major events there a year. It was even rumoured the event may be moved to Wellington or Christchurch.

Today it was revealed Laneway’s New Zealand co-promoter Mark Kneebone had been working with Auckland Council's Panuku Development and has been given the green light to stage the festival again at the Silo Park venue. The return to Wynyard Quarter for a fifth time is likely to be its last.

"After some initial uncertainty about where we'd be for next year's event, we are beyond happy that our old friends at Silo Park have pulled out the stops to make it possible for Laneway to return to the waterfront location for 2016," said Kneebone in a statement.

"Laneway has always been about delivering the best possible music coupled with the best possible location and with Panuku's cooperation we now know we can provide the level of festival that Laneway fans have become accustomed to,” he added.

Laneway New Zealand may still see a staging at Auckland Domain down the track. Last month Auckland Council confirmed Laneway couldn’t have the Domain next year but it is keen to have it staged there in 2017. 

St Jerome's Laneway Festival New Zealand is on February 1 2016 with the full lineup dropping 9am Tuesday, September 22.

Dates and venues for Laneway 2016 below:

Saturday 30 January - SINGAPORE - THE MEADOW, GARDENS BY THE BAY

Monday 1 February - AUCKLAND - SILO PARK

Friday 5 February - ADELAIDE - HARTS MILL, PORT ADELAIDE (16+)

Saturday 6 February - BRISBANE - BRISBANE SHOWGROUNDS, BOWEN HILLS (16+)

Sunday 7 February - SYDNEY - SYDNEY COLLEGE OF THE ARTS (SCA), ROZELLE

Saturday 13 February - MELBOURNE - FOOTSCRAY COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (FCAC) AND THE RIVER’S EDGE

Sunday 14 February - FREMANTLE - ESPLANADE RESERVE AND WEST END

Image: Laneway New Zealand Facebook