The Redwoods - Under the Sails

About this place

The Redwoods – Under the Sails is an open-air event site within the Whakarewarewa Forest on the edge of Rotorua, a short distance from the city centre. It is not a conventional function building: the venue is a space beneath mature redwoods where a large white canvas sail is suspended between the trunks to form a canopy over the event area.

Bookings, styling and event management are handled by Event Impressions, an event styling and management company with Auckland and Rotorua contact points, which markets Under the Sails for weddings, business events, private functions, brand activations, milestone celebrations, community gatherings and funerals.

The space

The operator describes the venue as a private, peaceful open-air space that can be transformed with ambient lighting and creative styling to suit a range of themes — relaxed and rustic, bold and modern, or otherwise. Published capacities are:

• Up to 220 guests seated
• Up to 350 guests for a cocktail-style event

Layouts are described as fully customisable. Catering is flexible and arranged per event, with grazing tables, food trucks, plated meals, and canapés and cocktails all listed as options.

What to check before booking

Because this is a forest site rather than a permanently serviced venue, planners should treat almost everything beyond the sail canopy and the setting as event-by-event infrastructure. Furniture, lighting, staging, power, AV, catering and amenities are configured for each booking rather than being fixed in place, and the published capacities describe the styled space as delivered by the operator. No fixed breakout rooms, permanent kitchen or in-house AV inventory is advertised. The sail provides overhead cover rather than an enclosed, climate-controlled room, so weather contingency and delegate comfort are worth discussing early — particularly for winter or evening events.

MICE relevance

For meetings and incentive planners, Under the Sails works as a destination dinner, gala, awards evening or brand activation rather than as a conference room. Its draw is the setting: mature redwoods minutes from central Rotorua, giving a strong sense of place that a hotel ballroom cannot replicate, and a capacity range that suits a full conference delegation for an evening function.

Because a single company handles the styling, hire and event management, it also suits planners who want one point of contact for the build rather than coordinating multiple suppliers into a bare site. It pairs naturally with a city-based conference base — see other Rotorua venues for daytime meeting space.