Rhythm and Alps festival 2021 intends to go ahead starting December 29 as planned, operating under the 'orange' level of the Government's COVID-19 Protection Framework.
The event will take place over three days in Wanaka's Cardrona Valley, with festival entry "powered up" by 'COVID ambassadors' and extra customer service to help attendees access the site under the new guidelines.
Festival director Alex Turnbull says the event's ticketing partner, Ticket Fairy, has already integrated the new vaccine passport technology into their system, meaning punters can upload their vaccine pass to their account where it will be verified and their ticket then marked valid for entry.
"To do this, all festival attendees must log in prior to arriving at Rhythm & Alps and connect their vaccine passports," Turnbull said in a statement.
"The ticket scanning system will show their vaccine status alongside their usual ticket status, without needing to scan both the ticket and the passport separately.
"We are confident this is a secure and simple way to apply vaccine passports to festivals and clear instructions will be sent to all customers within the next few days, with ongoing reminders throughout December."
Around 10,000 partygoers and more than 6000 campers are expected to attend RnA, with over 40 percent arriving from outside the region. Vaccination rates in Queenstown and Wanaka are high - approximately 95 percent - and organisers say they've consulted with The Southern DHB, police, Ministry of Health and Queenstown Lakes District Council, with all confident the festival can be run safely.
Performances from Kora, LAB, Lee Mvtthews, Montell2099, Muroki, Paige Julia, Salmonella Dub featuring Tiki Taane, Scribe & P Money and Shapeshifter are scheduled across the three days, with the full line-up set to be announced on December 10.