Get down to the garage: Celebrating New Zealand's most beloved party spot

In New Zealand/Aotearoa, the garage isn’t just known as the part of the house where motor vehicles are stored. The garage is a cultural landmark - a limitless space transcending its intended purpose with the magical ability to take on a multidimensional range of forms. 

When resources are limited, the garage becomes a place of unmatched ingenuity and imagination. Ahead of cutting the ribbon on its first store in New Zealand, which opened in Sylvia Park, Auckland, last week (December 4), IKEA conducted 500 home visits across New Zealand in preparation to officially join the community; the result was IKEA’s New Zealand Life at Home Report.  In the report, Kiwis shared that they wanted to make the garage more stylish, while keeping it efficient for daily use, with 93% of homes saying that their garage is a multi-purpose, carpeted room.

Garages are a place of meeting, celebration, feast, an office, a workshop, a gym, even a studio - or all of the above. By night, the garage is also a hotspot for parties - where drink ups are hosted, friends and whānau (extended family) gather, jams are blasted from boomboxes, and lasting memories are made all without disturbing (and/or destroying) the adjacent household. Whether pre-drinks, kick-ons, or the main event of the evening, garage parties are a space where music, connection, culture, creativity, and community collide.

From small, intimate garages to the biggest of garages, the unlikely focal point of many New Zealanders’ homes has fostered space for enduring party memories and traditions passed down throughout generations. AA insurance research in 2024 revealed that 46% of New Zealanders surveyed had an emotional connection with their garage, and 30% see it as a space that allows them to release their creativity and unwind.

And it’s precisely this deep cultural connection Kiwis have with their garages that shaped the way IKEA chose to introduce itself to Aotearoa, hosting a series of Kiwi Housewarming parties across Auckland last month (November 28-30), including a house party, a garage party and a beach party. In partnership with UK pop-up party innovators Lab54, and inspired by the insights of the New Zealand Life at Home Report, IKEA and Lab54 brought the garage to life for one huge garage party at Mount Eden’s Warehouse Basement. The party saw both local legends and renowned international DJs combining forces, with the secret party's line-up featuring Ebony Boadu, JessB, Mistah Cee, Poppa Jax, Randy, and Seymore. 

Bringing together Aotearoa’s finest hip hop selectors and live rap acts with two of Australia’s most in-demand DJs, IKEA’s ultimate garage party shook the walls of industrial garage Warehouse Basement, an inconspicuous venue located on the outskirts of Auckland CBD. Radio host, A&R, DJ, and tastemaker extraordinaire Ebony Boadu flexed why she’s one of Australia's most sought-after hip hop and R&B selectors, and Sydney-based DJ Mistah Cee showcased his wide-ranging musical knowledge with a dynamic set bridging the gap between multiple generations of hip hop hits. 

Tāmaki Makaurau’s certified queen of the club, Poppa Jax, exercised her unmatched energy and crowd-reading expertise, and JessB brought the bars with a live set showcasing her border-crossing blend of Afrobeats, dancehall, and hip hop. Mai FM radio host and DJ Randy demonstrated why he’s the don of Aotearoa’s favourite hip hop and R&B radio station, and Tāmaki nightlife staple Seymore’s set took the crowd through hip hop, R&B, and Island jam classics, both Aotearoa-centric and global. All six acts embodied the tried and true essence of a traditional New Zealand garage party, each embracing the unconventional space with pure cultural pride. 

While Britain claims the globally recognised dance subgenre UK garage, you’re unlikely to actually find a party taking place in a garage in the UK. NZ garage has an entirely different meaning. And while you may well hear UK garage sounds at an NZ garage party today, with the 2020s giving rise to NZG - a distinctly local take on the sounds of UKG from Aotearoa artists like Hyan, deadforest & Dera Meelan, Caru & Brandn Shiraz, Juni, and more - the primary genres heard through the portable speaker at a classic NZ garage party are hip hop, R&B, and reggae. The earliest foundations of the quintessential NZ garage party were pioneered by the DIY ethos and innovation of Pasifika communities, and award-winning Onehunga hip-hop collective SWIDT’s biggest hit to date, ‘KELZ GARAGE’, is a primary example of the cultural phenomenon that is New Zealand’s social garage culture.

Featuring Māori and Cook Islands singer-songwriter Lomez Brown, the reggae/hip hop fusion quickly became a national anthem, soundtracking the horsey nights of Pasifika garages upon its release in 2021. Not only did ‘KELZ GARAGE’ go platinum in New Zealand garages everywhere, but the track also earned the group their first gold certification, became one of the top 20 songs by New Zealand artists in 2022, and took out the radio airplay award trophy at 2023’s Pacific Music Awards. ‘KELZ GARAGE’ is a testament to the impact of a garage party's influence spanning across generations, turning ingenuity into accolades.

Aotearoa hip hop legends Home Brew, the generation-defining project of trio Tom Scott, Lui Gumaka and producer Haz Beats, have a deep history with unconventional, DIY makeshift studios. The trio created and recorded their acclaimed 2012 self-titled debut album and cult-favourite EPs 'Last Week' and 'Summer Ale' in a tiny garage shed dubbed “the shack”, heavily referenced throughout the groups catalogue. “For the stoner laughs that we shared over Nas,” Scott raps on Home Brew’s debut album intro track ‘Dedicated To’. “Full blast on my arse, sitting in my bro’s garage”. On 'Last Week' track ‘Wednesday’, he recounts, “it’s just another cold day sittin' in the shack, play another beat and make another track”.

Released last month, cult-favourite Aotearoa rapper deadforest and producer partner Dera Meelan shouted out South Auckland garage drink ups on ‘NO I.D’ featuring AP, the lead single from their upcoming collab project, 'aw true? yeah nah'. The track's title alludes to being denied entry into the club, but for the Sāmoan-Māori rapper, he’d rather hang with his bros in a garage out South on any given night. "Tell Dera just send me the beat, might take one day, might take one week,” DF spits over Dera Meelan’s rattling breakbeats and looped keys. “Can't come to the club, got no I.D, southside garage, I'm a VIP". 

Like deadforest rapped on ‘NO I.D’, you don’t need identification to gain entry into a garage. Every home has one, and in turn, any humble New Zealand household can transform into a buzzing hub of connection, culture, and community by night. Garage parties don’t have to be bougie - in fact, it’s usually better if they’re the opposite. The foundation of a garage function is built upon resourcefulness; working smarter, not harder, with the tools you have. And IKEA’s Kiwi Housewarming event proved why garage parties are a distinctly New Zealand practice that can’t be replicated anywhere else in the world.

IKEA launched its first store in New Zealand in Sylvia Park, Auckland on December 4. For more information click here.

Laura McInnes is a Freelance music writer, follow her on Instagram