What started as a local show almost three decades ago is now a ten-city nationwide tour with a two-hour television broadcast special, and John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia, is grateful to see how the franchise has grown.

The Ruakaka Recreation Centre cancelled the scheduled March 20 event, while the Wellsford RSA was more straightforward, replying to questions about the booking with a simply put, “cancelled.The holiday season brings so much joy to us for so many reasons, but one of our favorite things to do is see some of the year’s chart-topping artists perform at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour presented by Capital One. The roadshow is also having trouble booking venues.

Last month, Auckland Council cancelled a planned event at Mt Eden’s War Memorial Hall. These protests and public pressure have resulted in several venues cancelling Batchelor’s events. Police were also on standby - but not present - for the meeting in Kerikeri on March 12 which also hosted about 150 people, about a quarter of whom attended to object to Batchelor’s views

Three police keep the peace at a gathering of 150 people - half of who turned up to protest at the Dargaville roadshow on March 9. “I think that that’s the saddest thing, I guess from my standing point is that they’ve been given all this misinformation about co-governance,” she told the Herald.

Protester Mikaela Matenga (Tūhourangi, Tūwharetoa, Rongowhakaata, Te Arawa) told the Herald she could sense the fear and volatility in the crowd. Officers were forced to separate protesters from attendees during a heated meeting held at the council-owned Ōrewa Community Centre on March 18.

Iheartradio concert tonight