By Saturday afternoon, RiverRidge Retreat was a mass of colour as festival-goers pitched their tents and gathered before performers.
The festival featured about 55 acts, made up of more than 200 artists across two stages near the river.
Acts included Ash and the Matadors, Ash Grunwald, Minuit, Left Or Right, Taos, MC Beau and Kylie Price.
Former Ranfurly man and festival organiser Jock Davidson returned to New Zealand two weeks ago to oversee final preparations.
Mr Davidson (33) moved to Australia at age 17 and now owns a roofing company in Cronulla, south Sydney.
He said about 1800 people attended the event, which built on the success of the 2011 inaugural festival.
''Everything is just bigger and better. The new festival layout and dome stage works well, and Adele and Gary Dawkins have been amazing.''
Mr Davidson said there was enthusiasm and demand for the festival to become an annual event but a final decision was yet to be made.
The music festival was first held two years ago, at the former Woodstock Lodge in the Catlins, and attracted more than 1000 people.
Mr Davidson initially thought the festival would be a one-off, as Woodstock was in the process of being sold. However, when Gary and Adele Dawkins bought it at the end of 2011, renaming it RiverRidge Retreat, they found there was public demand for the festival's return.
Several bands came back to the festival, and others were already looking forward to the next Tawanui-based event.
