Rhythm and Vines

Rhythm and Vines
Dates	29 December - 1 January
Location(s)	Gisborne, New Zealand
Years active	2003–present
Attendance	30,000 (2012)
Website
www.rhythmandvines.co.nz

Rhythm and Vines (commonly known as R&V, RnV or Rhythm) is an annual music festival held at Waiohika Estate vineyard, several kilometres from the city of Gisborne, New Zealand. The festival began in 2003 and was held for the one day of New Year's Eve until 2008 when it expanded to the three days of 29–31 December.

Rhythm and Vines was founded in 2003 by University of Otago friends Hamish Pinkham, Tom Gibson, and Andrew Witters. They wanted to hold an event for their university friends to celebrate the New Year in a safe and secure location where they would be entertained by New Zealand musicians. The festival has been held each year at Waiohika Estate, Witters' family home.

The first festival had one performance stage, featured dub/reggae/funk band The Black Seeds and was attended by 1800 guests. In 2004 a second stage was added and 5,500 people attended with dub/drum and bass/reggae/roots band Salmonella Dub the headline act. The 2005 event featured roots/dub/reggae/jazz/soul band Fat Freddy's Drop. The 2006 festival had four stages, featured overseas artists such as Mylo and attracted a crowd of 15,000 people.

In 2008, Rhythm and Vines expanded to a three-day event which allowed the organisers to contract bands that were not previously available. This was large factor in making the 2008–2009 festival line-up the strongest yet by far, with many renowned international acts on the bill. Accommodation for the festival is mostly provided by BW Summer Festival, a seven-day camping festival that features bands such as Flume, Kora, and State of Mind.

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