Electric Avenue two-day festival attracts ten of thousands to Christchurch

• The tenth edition of Electric Avenue begins on Friday, the first time the festival has been staged across two days.
• More than 70,000 will converge on Christchurch's Hagley Park across Friday and Saturday.
• Almost 60 artists to perform across five stages, with The Prodigy, Chase & Status, Empire of the Sun, L.A.B. Tash Sultana, Shapeshifter and Wilkinson some of the biggest drawcards.
• Last year's event generated almost $6.5 million of visitor spend into the Garden City.

Crowds are beginning to flow into Christchurch's Hagley Park for Electric Avenue, but the threat of unfavourable weather looms large.

A sold-out crowd of more than 37,000 is expected for the opening day of the festival.

Many have travelled big distances for the event.

Christchurch's hometown heroes have been tasked with the first leg of performances, including reggae outfit 1 Drop Nation, electronic producer Fergus Eglesfield aka Goose and art-pop songstress Jaz Paterson.

Rain and thunder had been slated to hit the Garden City on Friday afternoon, but sun had broken out by 4.30pm.

Now based in Auckland, Paterson said she was thrilled to be back in her hometown.

"I'm super excited, it's so nice to be back in Christchurch and I'm really looking forward to performing today.

"I get so nervous before every show, but the feeling of performing is one of my favourite feelings in the whole world.

"It's worth it."

Earlier, London-based New Zealander singer and multi-instrumentalist Jordan Rakei got under way on the "Hangar stage" - band in tow.

Grace and Kirsty from the UK travelled especially for the festival to see the Tokoroa-born Rakei and Fat Freddy's Drop.

"It was a long journey but we've heard such great things," Kirsty said.

When asked why they had travelled thousands of kilometres around the globe for the event, Grace said "why not it's a fun time".

There is an ANZAC-slant to the acts due to hit the main stages later this evening, that include Tash Sultana, The Jungle Giants, L.A.B. Th' Dudes, Empire of the Sun and Shapeshifter.

UK drum and bass outfit and Friday's headliners Chase & Status are due to hit the stage at about 9.15pm.

Hopes for success

Organisers of the Electric Avenue festival are hoping its success over the next two days will ensure the burgeoning event continues to scale up.

A crowd of more than 37,000 will converge on Christchurch's North Hagley Park for the opening day of the festival's tenth edition on Friday.

It also marks the first time the event has been staged across two days since its inception a decade ago.

Another bumper turnout of festival-goers will be out in force for Saturday's second leg.

Both days of this year's event were "all but sold out" last September, a month after it was confirmed the event was extending to two days.

It has left at least 16,000 expectant patrons on a wait-list, according to promoters.

Festival director Callam Mitchell told RNZ demand for this year's event had greatly exceeded his expectations.

"It's fantastic and it gives us a lot of confidence going into 2026 as we target some pretty big name international artists," he said.

"There was a lot of unknowns around whether there was going to be enough demand for two days but being sold out back in September shows there definitely is."

Mitchell said making the two-day format permanent was "the ideal goal".

"We'll assess the feedback from the public and the city after this one and, all going well, two days will be the new format."

Another change being weighed up for the coming years is a possible shift to Hagley Park South, freeing up the site's capacity to 50,000.

Shoring up the demand for this year's event was an expansive line-up of international and local acts.

L.A.B., Shapeshifter (with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Ladi6), Fat Freddy's Drop and Th' Dudes lead the local contingent.

Further up the bill, UK outfit Chase & Status return to the festival and will close Friday's proceedings on the Park Stage.

The multi-platinum duo, and one of drum and bass's biggest crossover exports, previously played the 2018 event.

Although their last appearance was behind the DJ controller, fans are set to receive the optimal live band experience this time round.

The Prodigy are Saturday's headliners. It's the first New Zealand appearance of the trailblazing dance icons since the death of founding member Keith Flint six years ago.

After previously securing the services of other established names such as Orbital, Primal Scream and last year's headliners The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy's booking similarly ensured promoters could appeal to a broader demographic.

The group - now comprising of Liam Howlett and Maxim - remained one of the most exceptional festival closers, Mitchell said.

"Those closing sets you want something that's pretty high energy.

"The Prodigy was an obvious choice, I saw them a couple of years at a festival in Spain and they were incredible.

"By all accounts, the reports in recent days from their time in Australia have been phenomenal so we're looking forward to seeing them here on Saturday."

Site set-up began last Monday with most of the key production elements arriving at Hagley over the past few days.

The city council's economic development agency ChristchurchNZ estimated last year's event pumped almost $6.5 million of visitor spend into the local economy.

It also comes at a volatile period for live music events globally, with the ripple effects also being felt here.

Bay Dreams, Juicy Fest and Paradise City Rock Festival have all been canned in recent months.

Next month's Homegrown will also be the last for the Capital after almost 20 years.

Gates to Electric Avenue open at 2pm for Friday and 1.30pm on Saturday.

Electric Avenue 2025 - by the numbers

• Event cost: $12 million
• $5.5 million on artists and accommodation
• More than $400,000 on security
• More than $400,000 on bar facilities and staffing
• 600 portaloos.
• 250 metres of bars and drink stations, prepared by about 580 staff each day
• More than 120 people sorting through an estimated 25 tonnes of waste
• More than 5 kilometres of temporary fencing
• 35 eateries
• More than 300,000 reusable cups will be washed on site and retained for future use

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