Rotorua's controversial mud festival, Mudtopia, kicked off today, with slow ticket sales and troubles sourcing the sludge meaning it may end up costing the council hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Although hundred of people attended the event's opening today, the council could still be left out of pocket, having under-written the event for up to $500,000.
"Litte bit down on expectations but it's an extremely busy festival and music market this year, probably the busiest ever," Mudtopia co-director Scott Rice told 1 NEWS.
Mudtopia is the only festival of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, but the inaugural event found itself in hot water following a failed bid to import mud from South Korea, where the idea for the event first bubbled up.
"I think there was a lot of miscommunication with media, I think the key thing was that it was a relationship with Mudtpoia in Korea where they helped us a tremendous amount with intellectual property and imagery," Mr Rice said.
The full cost to ratepayers won't be known until there's a full wash-up after the event.
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