Ultra NZ: How Wellington landed a giant global electronic music festival
Saturday, 14 March 2026
About 15 years ago, gig promoter and music entrepreneur Mitch Lowe travelled to an Ultra music festival, and was so blown away by what he saw: the electronic dance music festival was at another level of performance, and he never imagined it might be able to be staged in New Zealand.
“I was hugely inspired. The production concepts over there, the budget, the equipment, I just thought all that is not available in New Zealand.’’
Over the years since then Lowe, founder of Audiology touring ‒ one of the main promoters of electronic and bass-music events in New Zealand ‒ has run thousands of festivals and events, like Bay Dreams, High Tide and Soundsplash, and also toured international artists like Fisher, CardiB and Snoop dog.
When Homegrown left Wellington, Lowe gazed at the extensive waterfront and the parks and buildings and had a lightbulb moment. He saw a gap and wondered what big event might fill it.
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Late last year, he was at a dinner with the Australasian producers of the world’s biggest global electronic music festival brand, Ultra, and they had a chat, and the next thing you know, around that dinner table they brainstormed to bring Ultra to New Zealand, and why not Wellington?
Within two weeks they had signed the deal: by late December some artists were signed up – including the global EDM headliner, The Chainsmokers, tickets went on sale, and 20,000 sold out quickly.
Taking place in Wellington on April 10, some of the headliners have never performed in New Zealand before, or not for years or more than a decade: DJ Snake, Zedd, Darren Styles, Nico Moreno, Oliver Heldens, Marlo and Miss Monique. In phase two announced this week, headline acts include Alison Wonderland, NGHTMRE, Pendulum and Ray Volpe.
Speaking by Zoom, Lowe says it was an obvious choice to locate Ultra in Wellington, rather than another city like Christchurch or Auckland.
“When you’re doing almost 200 shows a year, you figure out that If you want a show to be successful, you have to solve a problem. I spotted straight away after the cancellation of Homegrown that Wellington is going to be missing an annual event and something to be proud of.
“So I’d say a combination of really trying to give value to a city that needed it, but also where we’re at as a business to do something exciting and fresh is becoming rarer and rarer because we’ve done so many shows for so many years.’’
Ultra is the biggest international music festival brand in the world, producing music festivals on six continents. It started in Miami in 1999, and has become a defining feature in the electronic music culture.
Lowe talks about the significance of getting some of the Ultra headliners to come to New Zealand.
Announced in the first line-up was The Chainsmokers, one of the biggest EDM-pop acts of the past decade. Their songs, like Closer, have billions of streams and they’ve achieved global No 1 hits.
But the only way to get Alex Pall and Andrew Taggert to New Zealand is to bring them via Ultra, so they will head off to Australia, to the Gold Coast, the day after for Ultra Australia.
Talking generally about some of the global acts, Lowe says: “I don’t want to say too much, but it is such astronomical money you’re talking because that’s what they get overseas in the US when they tour.
“There are so many factors around whether they’re coming in a private jet etcetera. They have to do more than one show. It would just be impossible to bring them out for one, so that regard, they play the full tour.’’
Lowe explains the demographic of the Ultra audience. In New Zealand, there’s been an even spread from 18 to about 45, which is rare – he’s also behind the Raglan event, Soundsplash, which, we joke, seems to attract every year 12 student in New Zealand.
Says Lowe: “Ultra seems to be attracting a broader demographic and that’s a combination of the brand and what they’ve built [through Audiology] and also the artists we’ve chosen.’’
The other good news for Wellington is that 70% of people are coming out of town, which will be good for tourism.
The festival will be spread across four stages featuring EDM, house, techno, trance, drum and bass and bass music, and is only possible because of funding secured from the Government’s Events Boost Fund, and support from Wellington NZ.
Other big names which are creating huge hype, says Lowe, are Ray Volpe, are American dubstep and bass music producer/DJ who has become one of the fastest-rising names in the heavy electronic music scene, known for his high-energy festival sets. Alison Wonderland, and DJ Snake are other drawcards, along with Darren Styles.
Says Lowe: “What I can tell you is that in my 16 years of running shows here every week, you just don’t see these EDM acts, because like I said, they earn too much overseas. There’s been a crazy level of hype because the lineup’s so rare to have in New Zealand.’’
A promoter could not afford to bring them to New Zealand without being part of a festival like Ultra, says Lowe.
He’s decided to bring a New Zealand flavour to the event, introducing a drum and bass stage. He explains that “New Zealand is a drum and bass country. It’d be crazy for the stage to be anything else. When you look at the Ultra line-up, it’s pretty bloody diverse.’’
Ultra is known for its jaw-dropping festival productions and performances and Lowe is promising a 360-degree stage for the drum and bass gigs, which has never been done in New Zealand before.
He says in his time of producing music events, the bar has lifted. Audiences won’t put up with a couple of stage lights. “We’re in a new era. Ultra is the next step, the biggest thing we’ve ever done.’’
Paul Harding, guitarist in the band, Pendulum, is playing a live DJ set and headlining the drum and bass stage. Pendulum is a drum-and-bass electronic rock band formed in Perth in 2002. The members are now scattered around the globe and only get together occasionally as a live act.
Performing a Pendulum DJ set, Harding is excited to be playing another Ultra, which he first did back in 2004 in Miami.
“Since then, I’ve done Ultra in China, I’ve done Chile, I’ve done Argentina, might have even done one in Hong Kong at one point. So for them to sort of spread their wings into New Zealand is a fantastic thing, and when we got the call to be part of it, it was a no -brainer.’’
Lowe is already planning the next one, and says Ultra will be an annual event, hopefully still in Wellington in a couple of decades.