Alcohol and drug free events are helping reduce the number of Tauranga teenagers suffering from substance abuse, according to Bay of Plenty District Health Board youth alcohol and drug clinician David Gilmour.

Creative Tauranga is providing several alcohol and drug free events this season as part of their 100 per cent Summer without Substances promotion headlined by the annual Summerfest festival at Blake Park on Saturday, February 2.

Teens enjoy Summerfest in 2012.

As part of the festival's Youth Expo, Youth Alcohol and Other Drugs Service – Sorted, will have a strong presence at Summerfest this year.

David says the opportunity for young people to attend alcohol and drug free events helps to reduce the number of people suffering from substance abuse in Tauranga.

'That's the whole point of the Summerfest, is actually you can have a damn good time without alcohol or cannabis or party pills and for some people that's actually a real novel idea.”

'One - you would enjoy it more and two - you'd remember it. Three - you'd probably feel better afterwards than if you'd been drinking all day in the sun.”

David says the non-substance day will help give people ideas on how to party in new way.

'Because it's an alcohol free day, or a substance free day, it quite often will be touching buttons for people.”

'I think anybody going along to Summerfest and not using and has a good time, will suddenly be like ‘oh maybe I don't need to do that crap to have a good time.'

'So it's kind of like the opportunity for an experience of dancing and listening to music and being able to have a good time. And it's like ‘ah, ok maybe I don't need to be off my face.”

According to David most New Zealand youth have tried alcohol, cannabis, or both by the time they leave school, although he says the majority of teenagers experiment and then move on.

'Substance use is common. It's been unusual for a kid to reach university age never having tried anything. So it's the norm.

'Most people experiment and thing that's interesting and then move on.”

David says organisers were impressed with the feedback from youths who attended the inaugural festival in 2012.

'They'll tell you that the number of kids who were at Summerfest last year who didn't get stoned or pissed (were) coming along and saying that was a real buzz and it was better than what I normally experience because I didn't use substances.”

Summer without Substances events will run for two weeks starting tomorrow.

Teenagers aged 11-18-years-old can visit any three events and be in to win a free ticket to Summerfest 2013 featuring Titanium, I Am Giant and Jay Williams.

Organisations involved in this event are; Te Aranui Youth Trust, Merivale Community Centre, Ngai Te Rangi Iwi, Sport Bay of Plenty, Tauranga Safe City and ACC.

100% Summer without Substances event venues and dates are:

Merivale, Surrey Gr & Fraser St Park - 4.30-6.30pm, Wed 16 Jan 2013

Brookfield, Botanic Park, Millars Rd - 4.30-6.30pm, Thur 17 Jan 2013

Welcome Bay, Community Centre - 4.30-6.30pm, Fri 18 Jan 2013

Mount Maunganui Main Beach - 12noon-3pm, Sat 19 Jan 2013

Merivale, Surrey Gr & Fraser St Park - 4.30-6.30pm, Wed 23 Jan 2013

Brookfield, Botanic Park, Millars Rd - 4.30-6.30pm, Thur 24 Jan 2013

Welcome Bay, Community Centre - 4.30-6.30pm, Fri 25 Jan 2013

Mt Maunganui Main Beach - 12noon-3pm, Sat 26 Jan 2013

Summerfest - Blake Park (Maunganui Road) 10am-9pm, Sat 02 Feb 2013

Activities include Urban Dance Company workshops, volleyball, Waka Kai – mobile cooking demonstrations, mechanical bull rides, boxing instruction, mobile gyms, basketball shootouts photo booths with BMX and skate demonstrations also. There will also be a Youth Expo with local agencies who work with youth on each site. All events are free.