There was barely an umbrella, gumboot, tarpaulin or poncho left for sale in Wanaka yesterday morning as panic-buying Rhythm and Alps revellers flooded into the resort amid several hours of heavy rainfall.
However, by noon the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining on the music festival site at Robrosa Station in the Cardrona Valley, where the odd puddle or muddy patch were the only reminder of the morning's deluge.
Asked later if the bad weather had dampened organisers' pre-event enthusiasm, Rhythm and Alps co-director and founder Hamish Pinkham (32) said the rain was welcomed as it helped settle dust which hampered site preparations at the weekend.
From 9am when the gates opened, about 10,000 festival-goers and site workers descended on the high-country station for the two-day event, which sold out at the weekend.
Lengthy queues of ticket-holders waiting to gain entry stretched across paddocks and a sprawling tent-village housing more than 5000 campers rapidly took shape throughout the day.
Mr Pinkham said interest in the relocated festival had exceeded his expectations.
After making sure all is running smoothly at the event, Mr Pinkham will head to Gisborne today to ''keep an eye'' on day two of the much bigger Rhythm and Vines.
''I kind of feel like I've left my 10-year-old son at home and come down to check on the toddler.''
Music performances started at 4pm yesterday and were scheduled to continue until 6am today, with acts including P-Money, Shapeshifter and Rudimental.
The programme begins again today at 2pm, featuring Holly Arrowsmith, Tahuna Breaks and DJ Zinc, among others. One-day tickets were available.
With just four arrests in 10 years of Rhythm and Vines festivals, Mr Pinkham predicted few crowd behaviour problems at its Cardrona Valley counterpart.
''We run them ragged and they don't have time to get up to mischief.''
