The organiser of Splore says he's hoping the event will "lift spirits" this weekend as it makes its return for the first time in two years.
The festival is set to return to the shores of Tapapakanga Regional Park over February 24-26 after the event was unable to go ahead last year.
Festival director John Minty says the event will come as much-needed relief for many as Kiwis around the country continue to grapple with the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle.
He told 1News: "I think an event like this can really lift people's spirits and give them a bit of strength to carry on.
"The event is more than a party, it's very much a big community coming together and a part of a community coming together is the strength that you get from each other and the love you get from each other."
Minty says it's been a tough three years for the event industry after taking a series of big hits.
Now away from lockdowns preventing shows from going ahead, he says the biggest threat at the moment derailing shows is the weather.
He said: "A number of promoters are suffering again because of weather cancellations and postponements, it's a real challenge for the industry to actually hang in there and continue. It's not been an easy three years if you're in an events business."
Minty says there's a lot of good that can come from events so people have an outlet to socialise and have fun while there's a lot of struggles.
He said: "There's just this built up feeling of release and I think it's a mental health thing more than anything."
What to do if you can no longer make it?
With huge devastation in many regions likely to prevent people from attending, Minty urges people to try selling their ticket on Tixel before applying for a refund due to the timing of the storm.
He said: "We've had a large number of people who have come back to us in the last week or so and ask for refunds on tickets, saying they've been affected by floods.
"Unfortunately it happened at a time when we were building up the festival, so we don't have a lot of capacity, because every request for a refund needs quite a bit of work to process, so we sympathise for everyone who has lodged a request.
"We encourage them to sell their tickets on Tixel in the first case because there is a demand, particularly now as it's fine.
"Post-festival we can look at each case in terms of compensation or refunds because there are some very deserving people there but it's quite a long process."
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