In 2003 a trio of Otago University students hosted a private outdoor music gig at Waiohika Estate, just outside Gisborne. Today the Rhythm and Vines festival is a hot ticket internationally, a three day event full of tents, beers and cheers. 20/20 goes behind the scenes in the dying days of 2010, as Rhythm and Vines attracts a record-breaking crowd of 25,000 people. Festival founders Hamish Pinkham, Andrew Witters and Tom Gibson have to solve last minute hiccups to pull off the party. Shihad front man Jon Toogood describes it as "the Big Day Out in a forest".

This episode of C4's music series Homegrown Profiles looks at the long and distinguished musical careers of Kiwi music icons Tim and Neil Finn. The programme covers the early days of Split Enz, Neil joining the band at the age of 18, and Tim leaving in 1984; plus Neil forming Crowded House, Tim's short stint in his brother's band, the Finn's solo careers, and their two albums recording as the Finn Brothers. Jane Yee's interview with the brothers is revealing and fascinating, and includes great early Split Enz footage.

Winner of Best Actor and Best Director at short film festival Tropfest in 2013, this mockumentary follows the travails of Dave Dobson, "audio enhancement engineer for adult films". Dave’s passion for his job results in some sloppy aural props, in the hope that his soundtrack for Blizzard of Jizz will score a win at the Golden Clams. Not that his efforts are appreciated by his sleazy boss Gary, and hapless colleague Jake. Written and starring Greg Stubbings (Seven Sharp, The Crowd Goes Wild guest presenter), the comedy was selected for the ImagineNATIVE and Austin film festivals.

As the Operations Manager for Womad (World Of Music, Arts and Dance) in New Plymouth, Chris Herlihy performs the essential but often mundane jobs that make this large-scale outdoor event an annual success story. This half-hour documentary follows Herlihy and his crew as he oversees the pop-up city that is Womad 2011 — from looking after VIPs and fixing ticket problems, to mopping up the loos. New Plymouth has fully embraced Womad. Herlihy's love for the festival and his colleagues shines through as he power walks around the beautiful Brooklands Park site.

This documentary follows a 2001 Neil Finn tour of his bottom-of-the-world homeland. Finn challenged his perfectionist instincts by playing with a changing local line-up at each gig: mostly unknown fans offered a chance to “glisten like a pearl”. The performers ranged from veterans to teen guitarist-singer Jon Hume (four years away from the Australian Top 20 with band Evermore). In Dunedin the performance survives drinking rituals and uninvited stage guests; in another moment, a shy 14-year-old piano prodigy segues from Mozart into Split Enz classic 'I Got You'.

Nightly magazine-style show Town and Around played on New Zealand screens during the second half of the 60s. Hosted by Peter Read, this end-of-1968 special from the Wellington edition showcases highlights from over 500 items that year. The concentration is on lighter material, most famously a hoax piece on a farmer who puts gumboots on his turkeys. In another piece reporter John Shrapnell discovers that locked cars in the city tend to be the exception. Also featured: an interview with entertainer Rolf Harris, and an impromptu Kiwi street-Hamlet.

In this one-off documentary Te Radar takes his roving reporter skills to Takaka, and immerses himself in the groovy world of The Gathering. The New Year's dance music festival ran from 1996 to 2002. Radar proves the master of the quote, whether chatting to 'Lords of the Ping', electronic act Pitch Black or avoiding immolation from fire poi enthusiasts ("who doesn't love a fire poi", he says grimly). Watch out for Black Seed Bret McKenzie, laidback DJ star John Digweed and the earnest 'Jesus Food' crew, whose free dosh proves a bit too popular for rival food stalls.

Animals, people and cameras can make for a wild unpredictable combination, as this set of bloopers demonstrates. First up is the legendary 1989 clip of rugby star Zinzan Brooke falling off a spooked Shetland pony in Wales. Back on Kiwi soil, Dexter the golden labrador refuses to listen to owner Mark Leishman. A hare and dog take over a trotting track and cricket pitch, while reporters doing their pieces to camera are harassed by a friendly horse and overzealous ostriches. Plus two pigs give Country Calendar reporter John Gordon the giggles.  

The King of the Ring came to Aotearoa in February 1979. Eyewitness reporter Karen Sims tags along with the reigning heavyweight champ as he jogs, woos the crowds, spars with school kids, and flirts with her. Muhammad Ali was 37 and in the twilight of a storied career (he sports a Dad bod — “his twins”). He announced his first retirement just a few months later. Ali's cornerman Drew Bundini Brown provides an insider perspective, while Sims reflects on Ali’s contradictions and charisma: “when the crowds are there or the cameras are rolling Ali pushes out energy like a jet stream”. 

Beatlemania hit New Zealand in June 1964, as this footage makes clear. Welcoming 'the Fab Four' to Auckland after they arrive from Wellington, Mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson repeatedly asks the noisily enthusiastic crowd to "hold it please". He shakes John Lennon's finger, and the Beatles lark around with poi and attempt to hongi members of a Māori culture group. George Harrison also features in a short opening interview. Lennon threatened not to perform unless police protection was upgraded, after the Beatles encountered large crowds while arriving at their hotel.