Shipwrecked is New Zealand’s very own pirate themed music and arts festival! I attended for the festival’s 10th anniversary in 2026. this boutique festival has built a loyal following for its boat stages, immersive art, and dancefloors that somehow keep going long after you’ve told yourself “just one more set.” Equal parts sandy escape and creative playground, Shipwrecked blends house-heavy line-ups with theatrical installations, roaming performers, and a crowd that fully commits to the theme.
Getting to Shipwrecked – NZ Music & Arts Festival
There are specific gate opening times and more info can be found here. Get to Te Arai as early as possible and still prepare for a long wait if you’re planning to arrive on the Friday. There is no early access the day before. There’s only one road into and out of the festival.
The queue to get into the festival is extremely long. The wait can get up to five hours. This year, people reported that this wait was from 8am in the morning before the gates are even officially open. It takes this long because they take their time squeezing people in as close as they can within the campsite.
In previous years, the festival ran shuttles. However, there were none available this year. There are limited vehicle passes, so join the Shipwrecked Facebook Community Page if you’re willing to rideshare. This is also a good place to ask any questions before your arrival, find friends and reconnect with people afterwards.
Where to Stay at Shipwrecked
The festival ticket includes camping and you’ll want to stay onsite to be close to the action.
However, the event is held in Te Arai, just north of Auckland. If you’re looking to avoid queues or potentially get day passes, have a look at accommodation options below:
What to wear to Shipwrecked
With a name like Shipwrecked, it’s the best excuse to dress like a pirate or anything that might be related from mermaids to strange sea creatures!
Check out my blog post on where to find festival fits in New Zealand. A lot of these festival goers, thrift or even handmade their outfits at this one, so it’s a great time to get crafty. You’ll also find some local festival wear vendors selling their merch at stalls during the festival.
To get an idea of what the festival is like or find some costume inspo take a look at my NZ Music Festivals Pinterest Board, where I’ve created a dedicated section just for Shipwrecked!
Things to know before you go
The timetable for the event is releases within days of event start. There is no service at the location, so I would download or screenshot all the information you need.
If you really need it, Wi-Fi is available to purchase, and there are specific instructions to follow to activate and use it. I personally do not recommend getting it. There is only so much bandwidth a festival of this size, and you might as well be unplugged and enjoy the festival in all of its glory. You can always post the amazing photos and videos later!
Don’t forget to save information about performances at the various stages! Circus, cabaret, flow performers, pole dancers and more – there are plenty of attendees with creative talents that wander around the festival site practicing their tricks too.
Every stage includes shaded areas, which sounds like a small detail until you’re dancing through long summer afternoons.
Once the party starts, it keeps going both day and night till the very end. Don’t forget to pace yourself, there is plenty of time and spaces to relax and recharge too!
The Festival – Shipwrecked
One of the standout things about Shipwrecked Festival is the thoughtful site design. The festival site is so fun to explore, there are boats you can climb into and on, and gorgeous interactive art installations. It’s a perfect excuse to also take part in the Treasure hunt! Clues can be found all over the main festival site, and they lead to a treasure chest with the grand prize.
Vendors
Entering the festival, you’ll walk through an alleyway lined with vendor stalls, and it’s more than just a place to shop. Many of the merchants offer locally made festival wear, art, and handcrafted accessories, giving the space a distinctly community-driven feel. One standout experience was Castaway Foundry, where you could create your own souvenir aluminium token. For the cost of the product, you’re guided through the process of smelting aluminium and crafting a token yourself — a hands-on keepsake that feels far more meaningful than something picked up off a shelf.
Wellness Zones & Workshops
Just beyond the vendors sit the Wellness Zones, offering balance to the high-energy dance floors. With over 40 workshops across the weekend, the programme is impressively diverse. Sessions ranged from yoga, breathwork, and somatic movement to entrepreneurial talks, clay making, piano classes, and even mermaid lessons. Add in saunas, massage offerings, and health stalls, and it becomes clear that Shipwrecked is as much about restoration as it is about celebration.
The Blue Lotus Oasis was a small tent that focused on comfort and connection. Inside there were activity prompts that encouraged connection. Things like colouring in, or compliment cards and even tarot cards for the more spiritually inclined.
Shipwrecked (Main Stage)
At the heart of the festival is Shipwrecked (Main Stage) — impossible not to gravitate toward. Built from an upturned boat, the stage feels like a centrepiece pulled straight from a nautical daydream. Unlike traditional front-facing stages, this one invites you to dance from all sides, creating a circular, communal energy that never really lets the momentum drop. Musically, this is where house takes the lead, with steady, uplifting grooves that keep the dancefloor moving from day into night.
Saturday night brings one of Shipwrecked’s most anticipated moments: The Shipwrecked Ball. Each year comes with a new theme, and for the festival’s 10th anniversary, the organisers went all-in with Treasure Island. The result was a dancefloor full of glittering pirates, mystical sea creatures, and wildly creative interpretations of the theme. It felt less like a costume party and more like a shared world everyone had collectively stepped into — playful, expressive, and unapologetically imaginative.
Cabaret Show at the Solar Compass
Before the Shipwrecked Ball kicks off on Saturday night, festivalgoers gather at The Solar Compass for a cabaret show. Positioned at the physical and symbolic centre of the site between stages, this performance brings together a range of artists and acts, offering a moment to pause, watch, and appreciate creativity in a different form. It’s theatrical, surprising, and a great transition from daytime festival mode into the night ahead.
Hidden Reef
Tucked away for those craving something heavier is Hidden Reef, the stage dedicated to deeper bass sounds. This space draws in a different energy — darker, punchier, and more intense — offering a satisfying contrast to the main stage’s house rhythms. It’s the kind of place you stumble into, stay longer than expected, and leave feeling like you’ve discovered a secret pocket of the festival. And you just might have – there was a hollow octopus shaped shack directly across from the stage!
Humming Hut
For daytime sessions, Humming Hut is hard to beat. Set along the waterside, this stage thrives in natural light and fresh air. The vibe here is relaxed but uplifting, perfect for easing into the day or catching a set while soaking up the scenery. It’s one of those spaces where time seems to slow just enough for you to appreciate where you are.
Tortuga
A new addition this year was Tortuga, a smaller stage that proved size really doesn’t matter. While more intimate, it delivered big on sound and genre diversity. Tortuga felt curated and intentional — a place for discovering artists and sounds you might not have sought out otherwise.
Electric Groove Rider
One of the most memorable roaming experiences at Shipwrecked was the Electric Groove Rider. Imagine a giant moving disco ball, cruising through the festival grounds with a DJ inside, pumping out beats as it goes. Instead of coming to the music, the music comes to you. People followed it around, dancing alongside as it rolled past stages, pathways, and crowds — spontaneous, joyful, and very on-brand for Shipwrecked’s playful spirit.
Outside of the Festival
This year, Shipwrecked ran a nation wide treasure hunt, where you had to find the treasure around the designated cities with riddles posted on social media as a guide. There were some awesome prizes including tickets to the festival and unique pieces of art to collect!
There were also mini events run throughout the year as community get togethers and fundraising for the next big gig.
If there’s one takeaway, it’s that Shipwrecked is built with festival goers in mind — from immersive stage design to workshops and community-led initiatives beyond the festival gates. Keep an eye on their socials, because if this year is anything to go by, there’s always another adventure just around the corner.
Interested in working at Shipwrecked?
Check out their opportunities to get involved here!
Most opportunities are volunteering. You apply through CrewsControl. You must pay a bond, the price of a Tier 2 ticket to volunteer, and this will then be refunded after the event after you have checked in and out from all of your assigned shifts. Meals are also not covered for volunteers unless you work on parking & traffic control.
If you have trade work experience, there is a lot of work that goes into building the festival site, including working bees from October onwards. Call outs are placed on their social media pages. If you help out with these, the reward is often a free ticket to the event itself.
I volunteered in 2026 during the event, with one shift on the info desk and another helping with waste management. Sorting waste is very hands on, and not glamorous but anyone can help with this, and the sorting area is shaded to protect you from the sun and rain.
Thanks for joining me on my journey
If you’re looking for similar events, check out AUM – New Years Music Festival.
Next up, I’ll be heading to the last ever Splore!
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