Nambassa was a series of
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
-conceived New Zealand festivals held from 1976 to 1981 on large farms around
Waihi
Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town.
The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...
and
Waikino
Waikino is a small settlement at the eastern end of a gorge in the North Island of New Zealand alongside the Ohinemuri River, between Waihi and the Karangahake Gorge. The Waikino district lies at the base of the ecologically sensitive Coromandel ...
in
the Waikato. They were music, arts and alternatives festivals that focused on
peace
Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...
, love, and an
environmentally friendly
Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...
lifestyle. In addition to popular entertainment, they featured
workshop
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
s and displays advocating
alternative lifestyle
An alternative lifestyle or unconventional lifestyle is a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle perceived to be outside the social norm, norm for a given culture. The term ''alternative lifestyle'' is often used pejoratively. Description of a related ...
and
holistic health
Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices ...
issues,
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...
, clean and
sustainable energy
Energy system, Energy is sustainability, sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Definitions of sustainable energy usually look at its effects on the e ...
, and
unadulterated foods.
The New Zealand
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
movement was part of an international phenomenon in the 1960s and 1970s in the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...
, heralding a new artistic culture of music,
freedom
Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws".
In one definition, something is "free" i ...
and
social revolution
Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political system ...
where millions of young people across the globe were reacting against old world antecedents and embracing a new
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
ethos. Specifically New Zealand's
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...
had its foundations in the peace and anti-nuclear activism of the 1960s where hippies were actively trying to stop New Zealand's involvement in the
Vietnam war
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and to prevent the French from testing
nuclear weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...
at
Mururoa
Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...
atoll in
French Polynesia
French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...
in the
Pacific Islands
The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...
.
The January 1979 three-day music and alternatives festival, held over
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
anniversary weekend, attracted over 75,000 patrons making it the largest arts, multiple cultural and popular music event of its type in the world.
[Nambassa: A New Direction, edited by Colin Broadley and Judith Jones, A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1979. .]
Nambassa is also the tribal name of a
charitable trust that has championed sustainable ideas and demonstrated practical
counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
ideals, a
spiritually based
alternative lifestyle
An alternative lifestyle or unconventional lifestyle is a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle perceived to be outside the social norm, norm for a given culture. The term ''alternative lifestyle'' is often used pejoratively. Description of a related ...
, environmentalism and
green issues from the early 1970s to the present.
Significant events
* 1977 January.
Waikino music festival at Bicknel's farm, Waitawheta Valley, between
Waihi
Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town.
The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...
and
Waikino
Waikino is a small settlement at the eastern end of a gorge in the North Island of New Zealand alongside the Ohinemuri River, between Waihi and the Karangahake Gorge. The Waikino district lies at the base of the ecologically sensitive Coromandel ...
. Attendance 5500.
* 1977 December. Parade from
Queen St,
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, to nearby
Albert Park for a free concert. Attendance 10,000.
* 1978 January. Nambassa three-day music, crafts and alternative lifestyles festival on Phil and Pat Hulses' farm in Golden Valley, north of Waihi. Attendance 25,000.
* 1978 October.
Nambassa winter road show toured the
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
promoting the 1979 festival.
* 1978 December. Two-day gathering in Maritoto Valley for the Mother Centre and friends. Attendance 1500.
* 1979 January. Nambassa beach festival touring family roadshow –
Whangamatā
The town of Whangamatā is on the southeast coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 30 kilometres north of Waihi, to the north of the western extremity of the Bay of Plenty.
In holiday times the popu ...
,
Waihi Beach
Waihī Beach is a coastal town at the western end of the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. It lies 10 kilometres to the east of the town of Waihi, at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula. The main beach is 10 kilometres long. The town ...
,
Mount Maunganui
Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of Tauranga located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completion of the Tauranga Harb ...
and
Coromandel
Coromandel may refer to:
Places India
*Coromandel Coast, India
** Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements
**Dutch Coromandel
* Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India
New Zealand
*Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula
*Cor ...
.
* 1979 January. Nambassa three-day music, crafts and alternative lifestyles festival on Phil and Pat Hulses' farm in Golden Valley, north of Waihi. Attendance 75,000 plus.
* 1981 January. Nambassa five-day celebration of music, crafts and alternative lifestyles culture on a farm at Waitawheta Valley between Waihi and Waikino. Attendance 15,000 – well down on the 1979 festival. Reacting against the huge 1979 event which was deemed by many of the counterculture movement too large and not reflective of the alternative message, the organizers purposely ran this festival on the same weekend as a major commercial rock concert. While this event lost money, it dramatically changed its character away from rock music towards hippie and New Age culture.
Performers and guests
Some of the hundreds of performers and guests who took part in Nambassa activities included:
*
Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...
, Nambassa 1979, relaunching their career with a new line-up.
*
The Little River Band, Nambassa 1979, with
Glenn Shorrock
Glenn Barrie Shorrock (born 30 June 1944) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He was a founding member of rock bands the Twilights, Axiom, Little River Band and post LRB spin-off trio Birtles Shorrock Goble, as well as being a solo perfo ...
.
*
Skyhooks
Skyhook was a location technology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in location positioning. Founded in 2003, Skyhook initially focused on geolocating Wi-Fi access points by wardriving for commercial purposes. Skyhook trans ...
, Nambassa 1978, like Split Enz, Australia's early developers of theatre rock and costume extravaganza.
*
John Mayall
John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...
, Nambassa 1981. Pioneer of
British blues
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s, and reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s. In Britain, blues developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric g ...
in the 1960s and 1970s.
*
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...
, Nambassa 1981.
*
Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occas ...
and
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.
Life and career
McGhee was bor ...
, Nambassa 1981. Early black American blues exponents who influenced the 1960s music revolution.
*
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was ...
, Nambassa 1981.
*
Barry McGuire
Barry McGuire (born October 15, 1935) is an American singer-songwriter primarily known for his 1965 hit " Eve of Destruction". He was later a singer and songwriter of contemporary Christian music.
Early life
McGuire was born in Oklahoma City; ...
Nambassa 1979. Famous for the 1960s international smash hit "
Eve of Destruction".
*
Kevin Borich
Kevin Nicholas Borich (born 27 October 1948, Huapai, North Island, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter. He was the mainstay of the La De Da's, the leader of Kevin Borich Express, and a founding member of ...
, Nambassa 1981. New Zealander formerly of
the La De Da's
The La De Da's were a New Zealand rock band from 1963 to 1975. They were formed as a mod-ish group, the Mergers, in Te Atatū, by long-term members Kevin Borich on lead guitar and vocals, Phil Key on lead vocals and guitar and Trevor Wilson ...
and an Australian Blues Foundation Hall of Famer.
*
Topp Twins
The Topp Twins (born 14 May 1958) are the folk singing and activist sister comedy duo of New Zealand entertainers Jools and Lynda Topp. They are known for their country music influenced style, live shows and television performances. They ofte ...
, Nambassa 1979 and 1981.
*
Limbs Dance Company
The Limbs Dance Company was formed in Auckland, New Zealand in May 1977 and disbanded in Wellington in September 1989. Limbs was "the first contemporary dance company in New Zealand to win a general following", and performed alongside notable New Z ...
, Nambassa 1978, 1979 and 1981. Internationally known NZ dance troupe.
*
Alan Clay, Nambassa 1979 and 1981. Children's entertainer, author and international arts coordinator.
*
Hello Sailor, Waikino 1977.
*
Th' Dudes, Waikino 1977. Featuring a youthful
Dave Dobbyn
Sir David Joseph Dobbyn (born 3 January 1957) is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then h ...
, then nurtured by Charlie Gray from the Island of Real café.
*
Citizen Band ex Split Enz. Performed ''Good Morning Citizens''.
*
Alastair Riddell
Alastair Riddell (born 1952) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter.
Background
Riddell is a musician and a film maker. He has a singing style that was likened to a combination of Bryan Ferry and David Bowie. Prior to 1974, he was in a band called O ...
, Nambassa 1978.
*
Midge Marsden
Keith Douglas "Midge" Marsden (born 1945) is a New Zealand blues and R&B guitarist, harmonica-player, and singer with a musical career spanning four decades.
Life and career
Marsden was born and brought up in Moturoa, New Plymouth, Taranaki ...
, Nambassa 1978 and 1979.
*
Beaver
Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
, Nambassa 1978.
*
Golden Harvest, Nambassa 1979.
*
Andy Anderson, Nambassa 1978 and 1979. Musician and actor.
*
The Plague, Nambassa 1979 and 1981. Performed naked but covered in paint in 1979.
*
Mahana. A travelling
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
theatrical rock band whose
rock opera
A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
depicts the trials and tribulations of early white colonisation of New Zealand. Showcased at the
Nambassa Winter Show 1978 and the Nambassa festivals 1978, 1979 and 1981. Produced by John Tucker.
*
Billy TK
Wiremu Te Kahika, better known as Billy Te Kahika or Billy TK Senior (born 1943), is a New Zealand Māori musician, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter.
Early work
As a child, Billy TK lived in Bunnythorpe, a small town near Palmerston North ...
, Nambassa 1979 and 1981.
*
John Hore-Grenell, Nambassa 1978 and 1979.
* The
Rodger Fox Big Band, Nambassa 1981.
*
Gary McCormick
Gary McCormick is a New Zealand poet, radio and television personality, debater and raconteur.
McCormick began writing poetry in 1968. His published volumes are Gypsies (with Jon Benson, 1974), Naked and Nameless (1976), Poems for the Red Engi ...
, Nambassa 1978, '79 and '81. Poet and comedian.
*
Sam Hunt
Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played American football, football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sport ...
, Nambassa 1979. Poet.
Cultural guests
*
Stephen Gaskin
Stephen Gaskin (February 16, 1935 – July 1, 2014) was an American counterculture Hippie icon best known for his presence in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in the 1960s and for co-founding " The Farm", a spiritual commune in 1970. ...
, Nambassa 1978, 1979 and 1981. Co-founder of "
The Farm", an internationally known
spiritual community in Summertown,
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. Stephen Gaskin was a
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
presidential primary candidate in the US elections of 2000. He and wife
Ina May Gaskin, plus other farm residents, made the annual pilgrimage to Nambassa.
*
Swami Satchidananda
Satchidananda Saraswati (; 22 December 1914 – 19 August 2002), born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder and known as Swami Satchidananda, was an Indian yoga guru and religious teacher, who gained following in the West. He founded his own brand of Integra ...
, Nambassa 1979. Known among the 1960s counterculture as the man who opened the original
Woodstock festival
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
of 1969, and as the sage from India who introduced the art of
Yoga
Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...
to the west.
*
Ina May Gaskin, Nambassa 1978 and 1981. Widely credited with having created the modern
home birth
A home birth is a birth that takes place in a residence rather than in a hospital or a birthing center. They may be attended by a midwife, or lay attendant with experience in managing home births. Home birth was, until the advent of modern medi ...
movement and helping to inspire the renaissance of
midwifery
Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...
in the United States.
*
Eileen Caddy
Eileen Caddy Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (26 August 1917 – 13 December 2006) was a British spiritual teacher and New Age writer, best known as one of the founders of the Findhorn Foundation community at the Fin ...
Nambassa 1981. Eileen co-founded the
Findhorn
Findhorn ( or ''Inbhir Èireann'') is a village in Moray, Scotland. It is located on the eastern shore of Findhorn Bay and immediately south of the Moray Firth. Findhorn is 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Kinloss, Scotland, Kinloss, and abou ...
spiritual community in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
in 1962. Her
workshops
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
and discussions on
Findhorn Foundation
The Findhorn Foundation is a Scottish charitable trust registered in 1972, formed by the spiritual community at the Findhorn Ecovillage, one of the largest intentional communities in Britain.''The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and O ...
were well received.
*
Richard Alpert
Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and writer. His best-selling 1971 book '' Be Here Now'', which has been d ...
, aka Baba Ram Dass, Nambassa 1981. Richard Alpert was a professor of
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
who became well known for researching the effects of
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...
, working closely with Dr.
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...
. At Nambassa there was standing room only for Ram Dass' diverse lecturers on meditation and health.
*Chief
Oren Lyons
Oren R. Lyons Jr. (born 1930) is a Haudenosaunee Faithkeeper of the Wolf Clan of both the Onondaga Nation and the Seneca Nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River.[Onondaga (tribe)
The Onondaga people (Onontaerrhonon, Onondaga: , "People of the Hills") are one of the five original nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy in the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical homelands are in and around present-day On ...]
Council of Chiefs of the
Hau de no sau . He conducted lectures and coordinated with Māori
land rights
Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...
activists, sharing his Native American land rights experiences.
*
Jim Cairns
James Ford Cairns (4 October 191412 October 2003) was an Australian politician who was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Treasurer and the fourth deputy prime minister of Australia, both in the Whitl ...
, Nambassa 1981. Former deputy
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...
and Labor Treasurer in the Australian government who opposed Australia's involvement in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and in 1970 led a protest against the war. He resigned from parliament in 1977 to devote his life to the
counter-cultural
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of Mainstream culture, mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cult ...
movement.
* The
Twin Oaks Community
Twin Oaks Community is an ecovillage and intentional community of about one hundred people living on in Louisa County, Virginia. It is a member of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. Founded in 1967, it is one of the longest-enduring ...
eco community from
Louisa County, Virginia
Louisa County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,596. The county seat is Louisa.
History
Prior to colonial settlement, the area comprising Louisa County was occupied by sever ...
sent a delegation of six people to the 1981 Nambassa five-day celebration. Their workshop contributions were well received.
*
Eva Rickard
Tuaiwa Hautai "Eva" Rickard ( Kereopa; 19 April 1925 – 6 December 1997) was a New Zealand activism, activist for Māori people, Māori land law, land rights and for women's rights within Māoridom. Her methods included public civil disobedien ...
, Nambassa 1979. Vocal agitator for return of
Raglan golf course land to the Tainui Awhiro people from whom it was taken during World War II. Gave a number of powerful lectures, on aerial railway and the main stage. Nambassa is sympathetic towards many
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
Māori land claims.
*
Tim Shadbolt, Nambassa 1978, 1979 and 1981. Political activist and workshop participant. In the 1970s, he founded a commune and concrete cooperative at Huia. He wrote an autobiography, ''Bullshit and Jellybeans''.
Arts, self-sufficiency and healing arts workshops

The notion for education-based workshops and displays developed out of a philosophical view; that the world was heading towards difficult times and that people needed to learn how to become more self-sufficient so that they would be less reliant on a system unable to provide spiritual and survivalist needs.
[
The following extracts are taken from the first 1976 "Nambassa Sun" newsletter proposal, in support of their ]survivalist
Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...
workshops
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
on self sufficiency
Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person, being, or system needs little or no help from, or interaction with others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a self ...
and to heal the body and the mind.
The Nambassa festivals were not only music and entertainment events but included educational components which sought to instruct people on lifestyle aids it felt important enough to promote within the then conservative society of New Zealand's 1970s. Many of those involved in Nambassa aspired to the notion that throughout the evolution of western civilisation
A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of the state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond signed or spoken languag ...
, many valuable ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...
survival, healing
With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...
and spiritual techniques, had been lost over 1700 years of a philosophically and culturally dominating Roman Christianity. Nambassa advocates that many past civilisations supporting religious and political institutions, have historically sought to alienate, and too often violently eliminate, many worthwhile belief systems which did not conform to its then strict conservative doctrines
Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system. The etymolo ...
on culture and religion. Adherents of Nambassa promote the ideology which suggests that, to deny what was once integral to survival in ancient history
Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...
, is essentially to deny one's personal spiritual development. Through its wide variety of workshop subjects, the festivals attempted to nurture a better understanding of culture and spirituality
The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
with the goal of fostering a more tolerant and better informed society.
The idea of integrating education based workshop
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
demonstrations with popular mainstream entertainment, set the Nambassa festivals aside from other festivals coming before it. It was during the social revolution
Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political system ...
of the early 1960s and 1970s that Nambassa pioneered the concept, and was a world leader, in what was to evolve as a new format of presentation for the all encompassing major cultural, creative arts and music festivals
A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...
. Most large open-air entertainment gatherings, prior to Nambassa, were essentially pop concerts. This new format demonstrated the merits of combining, in a complementary way, multiple and diverse entertainment and cultural modules, within the one grand celebratory event. During the 1970s, the Nambassa Trust developed this concept of large scale multidimensional events, which the rest of the world only began adopting some 20 years later.
While the 1960s and 1970s hippy
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to different countries around the w ...
movements were, and continue to be, unfairly derided
for their infatuation with rediscovering ancient religion and culture, many of these re-birthing systems are now part of mainstream ideology.
At Nambassa, one could attend and participate in free workshop demonstrations, symposium
In Ancient Greece, the symposium (, ''sympósion'', from συμπίνειν, ''sympínein'', 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, o ...
and discussion groups
A focus group is a group interview involving a small number (sometimes up to ten) of demographically predefined participants. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are used in market research ...
on diverse subjects such as: leather-work, hand crafted jewellery, spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose (the most common ...
, pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...
, indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
didgeridoo
The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...
, boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...
throwing, creative art, musical instruments
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
, puppeteering
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...
, bonsai
Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...
trees, batiking, screen printing
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke ...
, basket weaving
Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...
, Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
woodcarving, furniture and woodturning
Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator is kno ...
, natural cosmetics, custom made Sandal (footwear)
Sandals are an open type of shoe, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can sometim ...
, clay therapy, aboriginal emu
The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...
egg carving, silk screening
Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen in a "flood stroke" to ...
, crochet
Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', which means 'hook'. Hooks can be made ...
and embroidery
Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...
, macramé
Macramé is a form of textile produced using knotting (rather than weaving or knitting) techniques.
The primary knots of macramé are the square (or reef knot) and forms of "hitching": various combinations of half hitches. It was long crafted by ...
, ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...
, bone carving
file:Alaska Grasendes Karibu c1910 Linden-Museum.jpg, Grazing caribou made in Alaska 1910 - Linden Museum
Bone carving is creating art, tools, and other goods by carving bone, animal bones, antlers, and horn (anatomy), horns. It can result in ...
, candle
A candle is an ignitable candle wick, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a Aroma compound, fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. ...
making, stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
, paper making, journalism and printing, glass blowing
Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...
, enamelling
Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between . The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word ''vitreous'' comes ...
, Māori art and jewellery, wood carving
Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculpture, ...
, the art of throwing pottery, weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
on inkle and back strap loom
A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...
s, wood-adzing, moccasin making, airbrushing
An airbrush is a small, Pneumatics, air-operated tool that Atomizer nozzle, atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint, but also ink, dye, and make-up. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of ...
, organic gardening
Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety pres ...
, tie-dye
Tie-dye is a term used to describe a number of resist dyeing techniques and the resulting dyed products of these processes. The process of tie-dye typically consists of folding, twisting, pleating, or crumpling fabric or a garment, before binding ...
, Māori kit making, mulching
A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth, and enhancing the visual appeal of the area.
A m ...
and composting
Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by Decomposition, decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and man ...
, growing and using soya beans, herb gardening, hydroponics
Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of #Passive sub-irrigation, hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral Plant nutrition, nutrient Solution (chemi ...
, small orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...
ing, natural child birth
Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more fetuses exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to the world ...
, breast feeding
Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WH ...
, child care
Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...
, alternative education, animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...
, raku pottery, fencing, small dams
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...
and irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
, solar heating
A solar thermal collector collects heat by Absorption (optics), absorbing sunlight. The term "solar collector" commonly refers to a device for solar hot water panel, solar hot water heating, but may refer to large power generating installations ...
, methane gas
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...
plants, wind pumps and generators, solar power
Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...
, solar cooker
A solar cooker is a device which uses the energy of direct sunlight to heat, cook or pasteurize drink and other food materials. Many solar cookers currently in use are relatively inexpensive, low-tech devices, although some are as powerful or as ...
, waterwheels, goat farming, sheep milking, rammed earth
Rammed earth is a technique for construction, constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as soil, earth, chalk, Lime (material), lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently ...
walls, soil-cement adobe
Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...
, stone-masonry, hydraulic power, wind power
Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...
, low cost housing and renovation
Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...
, furniture making, moulds and mud houses, bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...
and its uses, alternative lifestyles and communities
A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...
, Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (; 27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century ...
Schools, permaculture
Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using Systems theory, whole-systems thinking. It applies t ...
, ecology and mining, native forests, saving the whales, food preparation and storage, dried fruit
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...
, bread making, self-sufficiency
Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person, being, or system needs little or no help from, or interaction with others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a sel ...
, wine making
Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. There is ...
, beekeeping
Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are ...
, butter and cheese making, soap making
Soap is a salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually used for washing, b ...
, food cooperatives
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...
, healthy eating
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.
A he ...
, civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...
, New Zealand's nuclear-free zone
A nuclear-free zone is an area in which nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants are banned. The specific ramifications of these depend on the locale in question, but are generally distinct from nuclear-weapon-free zones, in that the latter only b ...
, world peace
Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...
and disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing Weapon, weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, ...
, music, Gay Rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Not ...
, puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...
, origami
) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a ...
, theatre, dance and costumes, mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...
making, conservation and pesticides
Pesticides are substances that are used to pest control, control pest (organism), pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for a ...
, clean water
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...
, mobile homes construction, bush craft
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
, legal aspects of alternative land development, horse ploughing, family planning
Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marit ...
, vegetarianism, animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
, martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...
, Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...
poverty, civil and human rights, work cooperatives, craft cooperatives, wood gas
Wood gas is a fuel gas that can be used for furnaces, stoves, and vehicles. During the production process, biomass or related carbon-containing materials are gasified within the oxygen-limited environment of a wood gas generator to produce a c ...
producers, solar panels
A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...
, development of electric cars
An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a plug-in electric vehicle, typ ...
and bikes, Feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
, Women's Rights
Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
, amateur radio
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...
, wood stoves and wetbacks, kite
A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...
making, the environment (Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...
and Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...
), alternative education
Alternative education encompasses educational philosophy differing from mainstream pedagogy and evidence-based education. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based ...
, Pacific cultural exchange (Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
), Māori land rights, community development, Māori marae
A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...
, Māori hāngī
Hāngī () is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven, called an ''umu''. It is still used for large groups on special occasions, as it allows large quantities of food to be cooked witho ...
, Maori Language Tutorial, substance abuse
Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...
, new age
New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
and green politics
Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...
, alternative media
Alternative media are media sources that differ from established forms of media, such as mainstream media or mass media, in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publica ...
, meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...
, yoga
Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...
, sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
dancing, ''I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...
'', tarot
Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...
cards, alchemy
Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...
, massage
Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pa ...
, sweat lodge
A sweat lodge is a low profile hut, typically dome-shaped or oblong, and made with natural materials. The structure is the ''lodge'', and the ceremony performed within the structure may be called by some cultures a purification ceremony or simply ...
, nutrition, alternative medicine
Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...
, astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...
, prayer and chanting
A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of note ...
, clairvoyance
Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to h ...
, meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...
, spiritual healing
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into patients and effect positive results. The field is defined by shared beliefs and practices relating to m ...
, naturopathy
Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturopaths. Difficult ...
, acupuncture
Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...
, tai chi
is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...
, herbalism
Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...
, natural remedies, reflexology
Reflexology, also known as zone therapy, is an alternative medical practice involving the application of pressure to specific points on the feet, ears, and hands. This is done using thumb, finger, and hand massage techniques without the use of ...
, iridology
Iridology (also known as iridodiagnosisCline D; Hofstetter HW; Griffin JR. ''Dictionary of Visual Science''. 4th ed. Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston 1997. or iridiagnosis) is an alternative medicine technique whose proponents claim that patterns ...
and osteopathy
Osteopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. In most countries, practitioners of osteopathy are not medically trained and are referred to as osteo ...
.
At all festivals there was a smorgasbord of spiritual and religious learning. Here the public could venture to various Healing Arts areas and attend either a bible study course, or chant spiritual names with the Buddhists and Hare Krishnas, or sing and pray with Christians, or attend Sunday mass with the Catholics or learn how to meditate with Ananda Marga or find out the meaning of Karma from the Hindus. The policy of the Nambassa Trust was to attempt to create an ambiance which would dispel all religious factionalism, so that philosophical labels could dissipate enabling people of all religious persuasion to share in their most common fundamental of traits, their humanity. In maintaining Nambassa's nonsectarian and open door policy on religious philosophy
Religious philosophy is philosophical thinking that is influenced and directed as a consequence of teachings from a particular religion. It can be done objectively, but it may also be done as a persuasion tool by believers in that faith. Relig ...
, workshops were conducted on: Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, Hare Krishna, Bible scholarship and born again
To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...
Christianity, Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
, Ananda Marga
Ānanda Mārga (, Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages, also spelled Anand Marg and Ananda Marg), or officially Ānanda Mārga Pracāraka Saṃgha (organization for the propagation of the path of bliss), is a world-wide socio-spiritual orga ...
, Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
, Taoism
Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...
, Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, Krishna-Hari
Hari () is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress.
The name Ha ...
bol, Sufism
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
, Esoteric Christianity
Esoteric Christianity is a mystical approach to Christianity which features "secret traditions" that require an initiation to learn or understand. The term ''esoteric'' was coined in the 17th century and derives from the Greek (, "inner").
Th ...
, shamanism
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
, Wicca
Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...
, and Zen
Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
.
Village market
At the centre of all Nambassa festivals lay the village marketplace
A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...
s. These consisted of dozens of hand craft outlets and health food
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.
A hea ...
eateries. Here the hustle and bustle, the exuberant colour and relaxed atmosphere, prevalent at the various Nambassa village marketplaces, was a feature. These centers of community are where one found the main information centre or where folks simply culminated just to absorb the diverse quirky celebratory ambiance. Over the various festivals the marketplaces evolved and became major attractions in themselves. Not only a space for the enjoyment of bartering
In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists usually ...
for the various eclectic products and oddities, but they were a place of fun and entertainment, spontaneous or otherwise. The idea of a marketplace servicing the local population, as a method of doing business, buying, selling and exchanging products, is as old as civilisation itself.
The 1981 festival village was designed around a central rotunda with a maypole
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European List of folk festivals, folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place.
The festivals may occur on May Day, 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some co ...
, where spontaneously, poets, buskers
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...
and ravers alike featured. Nambassa vigorously promoted handcrafts, not only because of their therapeutic qualities, but because they had the potential to be a source of revenue to lifestyle proponents looking towards self-sufficiency and economic independence. From the festival village one could attend any number of craft workshops
Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
, pick up a copy of the daily Nambassa Waves newspaper, go buy fresh bread cooked in the wood-fired oven
upA double oven
A ceramic oven
An oven is a tool that is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...
bakery constructed in a converted hay shed, go do some shopping, check out Radio Nambassaland, pick up some information from the mother centre, or just simply chill out and absorb the atmosphere.
Personnel
The multiple festival format which combined Creative Arts
The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of me ...
, popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
and multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...
that shaped the Nambassa festivals, was conceived by Peter Terry while living in the Waikino
Waikino is a small settlement at the eastern end of a gorge in the North Island of New Zealand alongside the Ohinemuri River, between Waihi and the Karangahake Gorge. The Waikino district lies at the base of the ecologically sensitive Coromandel ...
craft village during early 1976. January 1977 heralded the Waikino music festival, a prelude to Nambassa, which experimented with the concept of amalgamating into a singular festive event, controversial alternative culture with popular music. By February 1977 Lorraine Ward and Bernard Woods in an old restored farmhouse atop of rural Bulltown Rd in Waihi
Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town.
The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...
, assisted Terry to edit a blueprint for the Nambassa Trust and the first festival. The first Nambassa newsletter
A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers.
Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...
proposal was printed, ten thousand copies of a free 13-page manuscript outlining the model and need for a Nambassa event, were circulated among the music, arts and alternative communities throughout the nation, inviting the wider community to participate. The first Mother Centre was opened on a farm in Willow Road at Waihi
Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town.
The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...
early November 1977, where the initial Nambassa support base and volunteers assembled to construct the festival facilities to accommodate a small city for the planned three-day music, crafts
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
and alternative lifestyle
An alternative lifestyle or unconventional lifestyle is a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle perceived to be outside the social norm, norm for a given culture. The term ''alternative lifestyle'' is often used pejoratively. Description of a related ...
event which was to be held at the end of January 1978 on two farms at the end of Landlyst Waihi.
The Nambassa administration involved hundreds, to the extent that the 1981 five-day celebration gave out 1500 complimentary tickets to people and groups involved in the event in some official capacity. Those mainly responsible were: Peter Terry (Nambassa trustee, founder and events coordinator 1976–2005), Lorraine Ward (Nambassa secretary and trustee 1977–2005), Neil Wernham (art and graphics 1977–1981), Doug Rogers (music and staging technical adviser, 1976–1979), Fred Alder (Nambassa sun coordinator 1979, 1978 construction team, and former trustee 1978 and 1979), Bryce Lelievre (1981 festival secretary), Mike Taylor (communications and site coordinator 1978 and 1979), Jonathon Acorn (1981 Woozlebub coordinator), Chris Hegan (main stage manager), Murray Grey (assistant stage manager), Trevor Kotlowski (1981 goffa), Mike Colonna (children's facility coordinator 1978 and 1979), Colin Broadley (programing, Nambassa book coordinator and open-air theatre 1979–1981) and Barry Lowther, (Mother Centre father, 1978 and 1979).
The organising of the festivals and supporting events were themselves practical workshops in every sense. The Nambassa spectacles were organised on a purely voluntary basis by energetic and visionary young unemployed hippies (at a time when New Zealand's unemployment rate was at an unprecedented high), coordinated into a cohesive working force by Terry. Three months out of each festival its supporters would assemble at a farm community called the "Mother Centre", living in house trucks, vans, cars and tents. Nambassa's open door policy encouraged anyone of whatever race, creed or economic circumstance to join in, providing one met the basic rules of the Mother Centre camp. The guidelines were no alcohol or hard drugs, and vegetarian diet was supplied by the Trust. Participants were required to work each day towards the collective goal of preparing the festival in time for opening day. In exchange they were fed and had immediate needs catered for. Over the years thousands of people, young and old, carved out permanent careers from the inspiration learnt, just from being involved with or going to a Nambassa event.
Nambassa is administered not by private enterprise but through a registered charitable trust whose articles list provisions and aims allowing it to organise public events to raise funds to meet objectives. Consequently, the organisation is nurtured by and for the people, as opposed to being driven by corporate
A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...
interests looking to maximise profit. This effectively enabled the events organisers to set minimal entry fees, based upon projected profits, so that festivals were affordable to lower income people. For example, the 1979 festival entrance was $18 (pre-paid) for a three-day adult pass. The trustees
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...
have several times declined offers of corporate sponsorship because the products offered have not met the Trust's philosophical aims and objects. In the 1970s the Nambassa Trust donated $29,698 to other organisations which meet its criteria. All Nambassa events made a profit with the exception of Celebration 1981.
Sound and lighting
Nambassa significantly expanded the concept of multiple open air staging, all running simultaneously at the one event. Out of the first 1978 three-day festival, the requirement of a second stage grew from the need to expand the entertainment program because of the resounding feedback from local performers and artists wanting to play at Nambassa. This became the "Aerial Railway", a second fully operational stage with sound, lighting and management. Aerial Railway absorbed the overflow of performers from the Main Stage, and also acted as a venue for spontaneous performances or raves. This second option was integral to the Nambassa philosophy of promoting local music and arts. Although the Miami Pop Festival in December 1968 featured two simultaneous 'main' stages, most of the early U.S. and European rock festivals
A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular eve ...
, including Woodstock festival
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
, Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16-18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Ex ...
and Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970.
Th ...
were predominantly single stage productions. The Nambassa 1978 festival had three stages; 1979 saw this expanded to four (including workshop stages), and the 1981 5-day celebration heralded five separate sound and lighting venues, all running at the same time. In 1981, "Aerial Railway" was replaced with the "Open Air Theatre" and "Woozlebub" for children. The multiple staging concepts seem to be finally making a comeback in the 21st century as seen at the recent Big Day Out
The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typi ...
and Glastonbury festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
s.
The 1981 Nambassa 5-day event introduced "Radio Nambassaland". This broadcast live feeds from all the 5 stages and workshops, into the surrounding community.
Interesting occurrences from the Nambassa festivals
* On a per-capita basis, the 1979 Nambassa festival was over 10 times bigger than the famous 1969 Woodstock Festival
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
. Swami Satchidananda
Satchidananda Saraswati (; 22 December 1914 – 19 August 2002), born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder and known as Swami Satchidananda, was an Indian yoga guru and religious teacher, who gained following in the West. He founded his own brand of Integra ...
, who also opened Woodstock ten years previously said, "This is better than Woodstock- you've got it made, lead the world".
* As Nambassa sought to demonstrate the practical ideals of alternative lifestyle, alcohol and meat could not be purchased at any Nambassa event. However, festival patrons were welcome to bring their own if they so desired.
* On the Friday night before the 1979 festival was officially opened, the festival
attendance had already reached its maximum capacity. At 3 am Saturday morning Peter was on the phone negotiating paddocks from neighbouring farms, while Fred, Mike and Bernie were out in the dead of night with bolt cutters, removing fences to allow cars and campers into newly acquired festival acreage. By 11 am Saturday morning on opening day, the traffic police closed the festival, and were telling people to go home, announcing on radio that the event could accommodate no more patrons. They ordered the organizers to remove the entry gates to free the roads, as vehicles and pedestrians were banked up in all directions for some 20 kilometres. But still they arrived. Some 5 kilometres towards Waihi a tent city spontaneously arose on a neighbouring farm where approximately 15,000 people parked and then walked the final leg into the festival site. Others abandoned their vehicles in Waihi itself and made the pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
to Nambassa on foot.[Nambassa Festival, a two-hour musical film documentary which had five crews working on it, New Zealand, 198]
The New Zealand Film Archive / Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua
* Nudity was a factor at all Nambassa festivals. In an atmosphere of openness and compelling spiritual flow, a sense of personal freedom and discovery prevailed and this led to a considerable amount of nudity in the most innocent sense. Thousands of people simply got naked and wandered the festivals with little or no clothing.
* Due to post 1978 festival intimidation by the media concerning the public smoking of marijuana at Nambassa, and whether the police were going to act on it in 1979, 58 people were arrested for cannabis (drug), cannabis on the first day of Nambassa 1979. As a response, tens of thousands of festival goers marched up the hill of the main auditorium to the police compound, threatening to storm it if the arrests did not cease. Festival organiser Peter Terry arranged a meeting with the police principals and advised them that they had made their point. He told the police that they themselves had become the focus of disruption, threatening the peaceful outcome of the event. He advised the police that if the arrests continued then he too would join the civil disobedience campaign to have them removed from the festival site. The police discontinued their arrest policy. Peter Terry was advised that the New Zealand Defence Force had been placed on standby as a precaution to any further protest directed at the police.
* Just a month out of the 1981 5-day celebration at Waitawheta Valley, the Ohinemuri Council sought, and were granted, a legal injunction which effectively cancelled the festival. This resulted from objections to the event from local Waitawheta farmers. Once the red tape and bureaucracy was negotiated to everyone's satisfaction, the injunction was lifted.
* The 1978 campaign to bring Split Enz
Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...
home from England to play Nambassa 1979, was initially fraught with all kinds of complications. No one, including Michael Gudinski and his Mushroom Records label, (Split Enz record company), would back the venture because the band had not fared overly well in the UK and had undergone significant member changes. After talks between Nambassa and Mushroom, (Peter Terry flew to Melbourne in an attempt to negotiate a deal), Michael Gudinski declined to assist financially with the proposed Nambassa venture. He said Mushroom had already lost considerable money on the band's UK adventure and was not in a position to invest further in their future. Gudinski, who Nambassa had dealt with the previous year with Skyhooks, instead offered a compromise without Split Enz, involving top Australian bands eager to play Nambassa. This was rejected by Nambassa organizers. The Trust wanted Split Enz, who they considered to be integral to the NZ music scene, or nothing. Nambassa eventually decided to negotiate directly with the band itself and ultimately financed the band's return. Split Enz performed for free at Nambassa 1979, forgoing their appearance fee so that they could return to New Zealand. In an eleventh hour deal Mushroom agreed to take the band from Nambassa and tour Australia, after which Mushroom Records subsequently released their hit single "I See Red (Split Enz song), I See Red" to coincide with their Nambassa appearance. When Split Enz played at 8.30 pm on Saturday night on 28 January 1979, their professional performance was widely regarded as having heralded a new and unprecedented era for the new band.
*Due to the huge volume of people who attended the Nambassa 3-day festival in 1979, the organizers were unable to get an accurate census of attendees, but have given estimates of 75,000 people. Some segments of the media, including Television New Zealand who were regularly flying over the festival, were quoting estimates as high as 150,000 people. This event became a free concert, because the police, unable to control the large volume of traffic which had closed all roads in a 20 kilometre radius, officially closed the event down mid-morning of the first day.
The Nambassa Winter Show with Mahana
The Nambassa Winter Show with Mahana was a Musical theatre, musical theatrical production of 60 entertainers and crew who toured the North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
of New Zealand in a convoy of New age travellers, Mobile homes, buses and vans, performing at major centres and theatres throughout September and October 1978. While initially 4 main shows were scheduled for this collective theatre company, repeat and spontaneous performances around the nation saw this number of live performances increased to over 10. This theatrical extravaganza was organised by the Nambassa Trust as part of its national promotion of the arts and towards promoting its 1979 3-day music, crafts and Counterculture of the 1960s, Alternative lifestyle festival which was held in Waihi
Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town.
The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...
attracting 70,000 people.
New Zealand's Housetruckers of the 1970s
Housetruckers are individuals, families and groups who convert old trucks and school buses into mobile-homes and live in them, preferring an unattached and transient Romani people, gypsy lifestyle to more conventional housing. These unique vehicles began appearing around New Zealand during the mid-1970s and even though there are fewer today they continue to adorn NZ roads.
Sources
Film
''Nambassa Festival'', a two-hour musical film documentary which had five crews working on it, New Zealand, 1980 The New Zealand Film Archive / Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua The film (50-minute version) was part of the New Zealand Film Commissions entry to the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. Director/editor, Philip Howe. Production company: Nambassa Trust, Peter Terry and Dale Farnsworth.
Radio
"Enzology" Frenzy (1978–1979). Episode 5 of Radio New Zealand National's story of Split Enz. Frenzy (duration: 49′55″).
Album
A double album made up of music, raves and comedy was recorded live from the main stage of the 1979 event and released throughout New Zealand as "Festival Music" (Stetson Records, 2SRLP12). This vinyl release featured Split Enz, Living Force, Flight 77, Chapman and White, Mahana, John Hore, Steve Tulloch, Plague, Chris Thompson, Schtung, Rick Steel, Tribrations, Nevil Purvis, Satchidananda, Gary McCormick, Andy Anderson. It was produced by Peter Terry, and re-recorded and mixed by Peter MacInnes and Dave Hurley at Mandrill Studios, Auckland NZ.
Publications
* Nambassa: A New Direction, edited by Colin Broadley and Judith Jones, A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1979. It records the huge three-day 1979 festival, with its 137 pages, 18 pages of full colour and 200 B&W photo images. Nambassa: Judith Jones: Source link. .
* Nambassa Festival Newsletter 1 edited by Peter Terry, Lorraine Ward and Bernard Woods. Published in 1976, 1977 and printed b
Goldfields Press Ltd, Paeroa.
* The Nambassa Sun and the Nambassa Waves newspapers published quarterly 1978–1981
* The Aotearoa Digital Arts Reader published by Aotearoa Digital Arts and Clouds
* The Wong Way to Marry , by C. A. Poulter.
* Art New Zealand Road People of Aetearoa by Andrew Martin.
*''The 1960s Cultural Revolution by John C. McWilliams ''
*''The Dark Side of Christian History'' by Helen Ellerbe (1995)''
*''History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages Henry Charles Lea (New York, 1888)''
See also
*List of historic rock festivals
* Nambassa Winter Show with Mahana
* New Zealand's Housetruckers of the 1970s
* Waikino music festival
* ConFest
* Waikino
Waikino is a small settlement at the eastern end of a gorge in the North Island of New Zealand alongside the Ohinemuri River, between Waihi and the Karangahake Gorge. The Waikino district lies at the base of the ecologically sensitive Coromandel ...
* Ohu
* Ecovillage
* Back-to-the-land movement
* Permaculture
* Green politics
* Nuclear-free zone#New Zealand, Nuclear-free zone – New Zealand
* Holistic health
* Alternative medicine
References
External links
The Nambassa Blog
155 Photos, videos and interests
YouTube video snippets of the 1979 Nambassa Festival
Enzology is National Radio's documentary covering the history of New Zealand's most iconic band – and Split Enz at Nambassa
Documentary:INSIGHT 79 – NAMBASSA
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealandInBrief/CreativeLife/7/en Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand]
{{Hippies
Busking venues
Clothing-optional events
New Age
Hippie movement
Rock festivals in New Zealand
Naturism in New Zealand
1981 disestablishments in New Zealand
Counterculture festivals
1976 establishments in New Zealand
Music festivals established in 1976
Music festivals in New Zealand
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