Closure of independent festivals mean emerging artists will lose important launch pad, music insiders say Closure of independent festivals mean emerging artists will lose important launch pad, music insiders say O n New Year’s Eve 1998, a few hundred people gathered for a dance party on a clifftop above the black sands of Karioitahi beach, south of Auckland. It was wild and lo-fi. Inspired by outdoor raves in Goa, India, and New Year’s Eve parties in the hills of the South Island, there were