A ticket to the Hamilton Sevens isn’t just buying rugby.
It will include freestyle motocross displays, dodgem rides, an inflatable safari, and live music, joint promoter Dallas Fisher says.
Hamilton will host the New Zealand leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series on February 3 and 4 and Fisher is preparing for a big weekend.
“The whole objective was to really create an entertainment festival with sevens in the middle. Which is quite different.
“The whole objective was to really create an entertainment festival with Sevens in the middle,” joint promoter and 37 South director Dallas Fisher says.
There will be 45 games over the two-day tournament.
“That’s a lot,” Fisher says, “so you need to put a whole lot of entertainment and experiences around that, that makes the event full and entertaining through the whole day.”
The plan is to spread into the green areas around FMG Stadium Waikato when 23,600-odd footy fans arrive.
Many will want to head to the R18 entertainment area in Mill Street Park – “where the party is going to go”.
Freestyle motocross rider Levi Sherwood will take to the jump ramp there on Sunday, thanks to Red Bull.
Various areas are planned for the 2018 Hamilton Sevens, including a player warm-up area, R18 entertainment zone, and a family fun fair.
The “Rubber Kid” from Palmerston North is said to be the most successful Red Bull X-Fighter ever and has collected a handful of gold medals at events over the past two years.
Also in the R18 area will be dodgems, the scream machine and a hurricane ride – the rides are included in the ticket price.
“You could go for 100 rides in the dodgems over two days, for nothing,” Fisher said.
Food and drink does cost extra, but it won’t be all burgers and chips because Fisher is also a Montana Catering director.
The plans include a craft beer bar and everything from dumplings and Vietnamese food to hang and mussel fritters.
The sevens will be a cashless event, borrowing from the music festival method of punters topping up an account connected to their wristband.
Families will have their own fun fair area in Mill Street Park, with food and kids’ entertainment, including a safari inflatable and face painting.
“You don’t mix the people who want to party and be noisy all day with the families,” Fisher said. “I think we have got that sorted.”
A player warm-up zone on Fred Jones Park, behind the stadium, will give fans a chance to get close to the rugby stars, and there will be live music and dancers between games.
Costumes have long been a staple of the sevens and Fisher says there will be prizes.
Picking who wins them will be a hard job, he said, and might keep a staffer busy for the weekend.
There will be plenty of people at the stadium working to make the Sevens happen.
Fisher is a director of Montana Catering, which will have 280 staffers on site.
Add security, volunteers and others, and there will probably be about 500 in total, he said.
And when the party and the games are pumping, what will Fisher be doing?
“I suspect I’ll have my RT in my ear and I’ll be everywhere,” he said.
“I need one of those Fitbits to see how many kilometres I walk a day.”
The Sevens will be held in the Waikato in both 2018 and 2019, when NZ Rugby’s licence for the leg of the World Series comes to an end.
