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Source: ONE News -
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New Zealand's largest kiwi music festival is under way in the capital.
Homegrown features 42 bands and DJs across six stages, entertaining a sell out crowd of 17,000.
Set along Wellington's waterfront, the show has sold out for the fifth consecutive year.
"I think kiwi music is strong and kiwis are passionate about the music that is coming out of the country...it's a testament to the bands that are here and a testament to all the different genres," events director Mark Wright said.
This year the festival features a new free to the public stage and a new collaborative stage.
Each stage has its own flavour - the largest boasting a line-up including Fat Freddy's Drop who are making their first Homegrown appearance.
Other headline acts are Kora, Six60, The Black Seeds, 1814, Sola Rosa and Sunshine Sound System.
The festival was in the headlines last week after Labour MP Trevor Mallard sold four tickets for a profit on Trade Me.
Mallard, who was responsible for introducing anti-scalping laws in time for the Rugby World Cup, sold four tickets to the Homegrown music festival for $656 - about $250 more than the purchase price.
Smaller events like Homegrown and the Sevens are not affected by the scalping laws, which Mallard says were designed to prevent people buying tickets with the intention of selling them for profit.
He rejected the claim that as an MP he shouldn't sell the tickets for profit, calling himself a kiwi who likes music. He said he frequently buys tickets to events, and occasionally will sell them online when he can't make it.
The teenagers who bought the tickets off Mallard said the MP used his parliamentary email address for the auction.
Laura Signal, 19, said she was surprised when the trader turned out to be the Hutt South MP. She and her friends went to Mallard's Naenae office to collect the tickets from him in person.
Mallard later contacted Signal and offered to buy back the tickets but she refused, saying she would prefer the profit from the sale went to charity.
