Clarke Gayford delights Splore Festival revellers with DJ set

Clarke Gayford delights Splore Festival revellers with DJ set
Photo credit: Instagram/ Carolyn Enting

New Zealand's first man Clarke Gayford has taken to the stage at Splore, one of the only music festivals happening in the world right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three-day music and arts festival kicked off in Tapapakanga Regional Park on Friday.

Clarke was announced as one of the acts in November, but in a recent post to Instagram, he revealed he was nervous about the gig.

"Mildly terrified about this return to the DJ stage, far more comfortable in the water with sharks these days," he wrote on Thursday.

"Due to date change I understand there are a few tix now available. #Splore, the best little festival in the world. Hope to see a few of you tomorrow eve from 6:30pm."

On Friday night he performed on the Crystal Palace stage, to the delight of party-goers.

"Summer in NZ and the first bloke on the decks... DJ Clarke Gayford," one reveller wrote.

"Rocking at the Crystal Palace at @splorefestival with @clarkegayford," another said.

"Wait… the NZ PM's other half is a DJ??? Damn, can NZ get any better?"

The festival is one of only a few taking place around the world, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the live events industry.

Splore has also been certified as carbon-neutral this year, with plans in place to minimise the environmental cost that can normally come with large events.

"It all comes down to where we've analysed what carbon we produce for our operations. So we've actually analysed that and did an audit, and then we can basically offset that, by planting native trees," festival director John Minty told Newshub.