Kiwi Yarns podcast: How Rhythm and Vines stays successful

despite a pandemic, recessions and changing music tastes

Monday, 4 November 2024

Kyle Bell, one of the organisers of Rhythm and Vines music festival, spoke to Brodie Kane on Kiwi Yarns.

Kiwi Yarns is proudly brought to you by Prospa.

In the 21 years since Rhythm and Vines was first held in 2003, it’s survived two global recessions, a pandemic, and its fair share of mistakes.

But lessons have been learnt and changes made along the way that have helped R&V build a legacy as one of the biggest, longest-running and best festivals in New Zealand.

The list of international and New Zealand headliners who have performed at R&V, a three-day New Year’s festival at Waiohika Estate vineyard near Gisborne, is simply too long to name.

Just a few of the huge names who have featured over the years include Moby, Tame Impala, Wilkinson, Disclosure, Franz Ferdinand, Dave Dobbyn, Fat Freddy's Drop, and Shapeshifter.

On a new episode of Stuff’s Kiwi Yarns podcast, host Brodie Kane spoke to a man she called the “godfather of Rhythm and Vines,” Kyle Bell. He’s been to every single R&V to date, both as a punter and as the festival’s marketing director since 2015.

Click the purple play button above to listen to the full Kiwi Yarns interview with Bell.

Kyle Bell, one of the organisers of Rhythm and Vines music festival, was a guest on Stuff’s Kiwi Yarns podcast, hosted by Brodie Kane.

Bell explained why he thought R&V had managed to survive and adapt to challenges like Covid-19, evolving music tastes and a change in ticket-buyer habits.

Bell told Kiwi Yarns: “There's just a huge focus on just the experience and I think a lot of other festivals have sort of burned themselves by overselling and, you know, not thinking more about the experience and just cramming people in. That's not great for long-term brand affinity, which is something that we've kind of put a lot of effort into.

“Rhythm and Vines has gone through enough, two global recessions and one pandemic now, and it's sort of still weathering it. So, yeah, you’ve just got to manage it.”

Although Bell said tickets to R&V tend to not sell out as quickly as they used to, this year’s festival from December 29-31 is very close to selling out of its 25,000-odd tickets.

The crowd this year will be treated to a lineup including Ice Spice, Sammy Virji, RL Grime and Dave Dobbyn.

Kiwi Yarns is a co-production between Stuff and Brodie Kane Media. There’s a new episode every Monday. Follow the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts for instant access to new episodes.