It was a welcome reprieve for both Sarah Meagher and Emma Morgan, who appreciated the opportunity to take a break from pandemic planning and preparedness in their roles as health professionals.
Miss Meagher, of Nova Scotia, and Ontario native Miss Morgan both work at Blenheim Hospital as an ultrasound technician and a radiographer respectively.
The pair were joined by a chorus of voices in the festival’s tent city who simply welcomed the opportunity to attend an event with some semblance of normality.
Both women are in New Zealand on working visas and their time in the country has been overshadowed by the threat of the pandemic since their arrival.
The festival has been hit by Covid-19, losing five big acts following the New Zealand’s first community case of the Omicron variant.
Despite the spectre of Covid-19, both were determined to enjoy their time.
"You have to start living again," Miss Morgan said.
Miss Meagher echoed that sentiment and said the atmosphere at the festival was worlds away from the reality they had been preparing in the health sector.
"It’s just nice to be able to experience something like this after so long - it is great. We’ve met people from far and wide and they are all coming together like old friends."
Elsewhere in the tent city others were the feeling the same, including Lucy Coulston, of Gisborne, who travelled to the festival with eight friends from across the North and South Islands.
"It’s so nice to be here after so long of having stuff shut down," she said.
"After all this Covid stuff, I mean, yeah, it’s still there, but look around ... I can’t believe the atmosphere.
"It’s the best hospo job I’ve ever had."
