Underground Festival 2027: New Zealand's Soil, Food and Farming Festival Moves to the Waikato

Underground, Aotearoa's soil, food and farming festival, is heading north for 2027.

The two-day event runs Wednesday 10 March to Thursday 11 March 2027, gates open 7.30am each day, at a farm in Te Miro, on the outskirts of Cambridge.

What it actually is

Underground is a two-day mix of farming conference and food festival, built around talks, workshops and field sessions on soil, regenerative and organic growing, and farming systems. Two talk tents run a rolling programme alongside sessions out in the paddocks, plus feasts, market stalls, camping and music. Past topics have ranged widely: soil health and microbiology, animal health, mycorrhizal fungi, grazing techniques, organic dairy transition, growing by the maramataka and regenerative floriculture in the talk tents; whole animal butchery, biological fertilisers, compost and biochar at different scales, tree planting demos, a tannery, freshwater workshops and microscope sessions out in the field. RNZ reported that 2026's programme also covered pollinator ecology, and Mangaroa Farms' Jules Matthews spoke on getting other farmers into regenerative practice. Food is treated as part of the programme rather than an afterthought — 2026's on-site kitchen was run by Wellington chef Max Gordy on an "eat local, waste less" ethos, serving slow-cooked beef, roasted zucchini and local-flour bread.

It's not just an event for farmers. According to the festival's own numbers, 80 percent of attendees are actively farming, across everything from large-scale dairy and sheep and beef to wine, horticulture and market gardening — but the festival also names chefs, foodies, nutritionists, scientists, makers, home gardeners and researchers among the people it's built for. If you're curious where your food comes from rather than growing it yourself, it says you still fit.

2026 was the festival's second year, held 18–19 February at Greystone Wines, and drew almost 450 farmers, growers, educators, scientists, researchers and soil enthusiasts, by the festival's own count — up from a smaller pilot in 2025. Founder Fran Bailey told RNZ she'd like to see it "continue to grow in quite an organic way," which is the context for the move to a bigger property in the Waikato for 2027. The 2026 event was backed by sponsors including Visit Hurunui, Mangaroa Farms and Biome Trust, Tow & Fert, Pastoral Improvements, Quorum Sense, On The Land, Eat New Zealand and The Food Farm.

For its first two years the festival was held at Greystone Wines in Waipara, North Canterbury. In 2027 it migrates to the home of Wholly Cow, a regenerative sheep and beef farm owned by Tommy and Carrie Andrews. The farm has regenerating bush, native tree plantings, and its own micro-abattoir and tannery. Tom and Carrie's son runs Wholly Cow Butchery in Cambridge town. Tom and Carrie spoke at Underground's first event in 2025. The festival says it will return to North Canterbury in 2028.

Underground is the creation of Fran Bailey, an events and communications specialist who worked the UK's Groundswell festival, Britain's largest regenerative agriculture event, for three years before bringing the idea home. Bailey lives on a dairy farm in the Waikato and also founded Soil Sisters Aotearoa NZ. Her event co-pilot is Chanelle O'Sullivan, who runs Harvested Media and leads a network of 19,000 rural women from an off-grid property in Central Otago. Nick Gill, co-owner of The Food Farm in North Canterbury and the man who spent twenty years turning Greystone Wines into one of the country's leading regenerative organic vineyards, rounds out the core team.

Speakers, so far

The full 2027 programme is being released in January 2027, and the festival says speakers and sessions will keep being announced through until then. As of now, six names are confirmed: Conan Moynihan, Jim Elizondo, Kath Irvine, Sam Gibson, Sam Lang and Tony Evans. The festival is promising 40-plus international and local speakers and more than 30 sessions across talks, workshops, field walks and demonstrations.

What it costs

Admission

• Early bird two-day adult pass: $345, GST included (full price after early bird sells out: $402.50, matching last year)
• Two-day family pass (2 adults + 2 children, aged 10-17): $920
• Single-day adult pass, Wednesday or Thursday only: $201.25 each
• Under 10s: not able to attend, as the venue is a working farm with hazards and there's no dedicated children's programme
• Under 1s: free

Camping and glamping (booked separately from admission)

• Camping pass, per adult, three nights (Tue 9 to Fri 12 March), hot showers included: $103.50
• Children: camp free
• Early bird two-day pass + camping bundle: $448.50 (full price: $506)
• Worth knowing: the campsite is off-grid — bring your own tent and gear, find your own site, hot showers provided but no other amenities confirmed yet
• Glamping via Nomadic New Zealand, pre-erected bell tents with bedding, three nights: from $350 plus GST

Getting there by bus

• Cambridge town centre return, per day: $30
• Hamilton Airport return transfer: $50

Good to know

• No BYO alcohol — the event is licensed, with a bar on-site only. You'll need photo ID; the legal drinking age applies (18+)
• It's a working farm: appropriate footwear and clothing are required, and you're asked to stay within the signposted event area
• Food: ample options on-site, but limited catering for special dietary requirements — you're allowed to bring your own food, though only sealed drinks (no BYO alcohol)
• No refunds except where required by the Consumer Guarantees Act, but tickets can be transferred or renamed through Flicket (for a fee) if your plans change
• Prices can rise with demand as tiers sell out, with no compensation for buying before a price change — another reason to lock in early bird now if you're going

Getting there

The farm is a 20-minute drive from Cambridge, 35 minutes from Hamilton Airport, 40 minutes from Hamilton city, and around two hours from Auckland International Airport. Full transport and accommodation details are on the festival's site. For anyone not camping on-site, the festival is flagging March as a busy month for Waikato accommodation and suggesting an early booking. Options it names in Cambridge itself are Kelly Rd Cambridge Lodge, Hidden Lake, and Cambridge Top Ten Holiday Park, alongside the usual bach and Airbnb listings.

This is a heads-up post, not a review. I'll update it as the programme and speaker list fill out through until January 2027.