Electric Ave drives record $10.5m visitor spend in Christchurch

Wednesday, 30 April 2025

The city benefitted from Electric Avenue to the tune of $10.5 million, according to a new report.

Christchurch benefited from this year’s Electric Avenue music festival to the tune of $10.5 million, a new report has revealed - the largest visitor spend for an event in Ōtautahi in the past decade.

Analysis of the economic impact of the sold-out Hagley Park-based concert, from Freshinfo, has also revealed Australasia’s biggest music festival drew around 75,000 attendees overall in 2025.

Electric Avenue festival director, Callam Mitchell, described the newly revealed figures about his event as “phenomenal”.

Record-breaking business takings were reported during the music extravaganza, which moved to a two-day model for the first time this year.

The economic benefit to Christchurch eclipsed the $6.3m spent in the city by Electric Avenue festival goers in 2024, and Sail GP the same year, which attracted 6000 visitors who spent $3.3m.

More than 60 acts entertained crowds on February 21 and 22, with approximately 34,000 full weekend pass tickets sold, thanks to a line-up that included a headline slot from the British electro-rock band The Prodigy.

Electric Avenue organiser Callam Mitchell is hoping to expand the Electric Avenue footprint next year, to allow for more attendees.

Folllowing this year’s success, organiser Callam Mitchell, of Christchurch-based Team Event Ltd, described the newly released statistics as “phenomenal” and revealed he is hoping to increase ticket allocations for next year and potentially add to the site footprint.

“There is more space available in north Hagley Park towards Carlton Corner. So we’re working with Christchurch City Council to see whether we can unlock some of that additional space … The preference would be to stay where we currently are.”

Marking its 10th anniversary this year, 55% of attendees came from outside the city, leading to a 98% occupancy rate for Ōtautahi’s accommodation providers.

Jeff Peters - owner of Christchurch’s Airways Motel and the accommodation chair for the Hospitality New Zealand Canterbury branch - said Electric Avenue marked “the peak of accommodation occupancy for the summer”.

“Because it was two days this year - the first time they’ve done two days - that gave us the average stay of closer to three [days].

“Most motels were at capacity over the weekend,” Peters said.

“From what I understand, every hotel room was full, every motel was full, every Airbnb was full, and every student flat had extra people staying,” said Michael Patterson, the director of the Commodore Airport Hotel.

The festival also marked the height of summer business for the Crowne Plaza Hotel in central Christchurch, according to its general manager Reinier Eulink.

Eulink, who is also the regional chair for the Hotel Council Aotearoa, which represents more than 200 New Zealand hotels, said the move to a two-day music festival was a “game changer” for accommodation providers in the city.

“People stayed a lot longer. They might have arrived before and then maybe stayed a day or night after.”

Stuff journalist Juliet Speedy takes a tour of Electric Avenue, a music festival attended by thousands at Hagley Park in Christchurch.

The benefit was felt by independent businesses at Riverside Market, who reported record profits to the market’s general manager, Rachel Gould.

“The tenants all loved Electric Avenue,” Gould said, before praising attendees as “a great crowd”.

“There were no incidents or any drama, just great people having a great time.”

Businesses in the market that reported record takings included Fumi Takai’s Espresso Studio, Sunny’s Bar and Pure Pulp organic juice bar.

Adding a third day to the festival programme is a longer-term ambition, Mitchell said, but “I don't think there's expansion quite in our tanks yet to go to three days”.

Introducing another large outdoor stage would be a “nice to have”, and increased toilet blocks to cater for the nearly 60% female audience demographic was also a focus.

“On face value and the feedback we’ve had - a 96%satisfaction rate - most people would rest on their laurels,” Mitchell said.

“But that’s not our model. There’s always something to fix.”

The new report was released by Christchurch NZ, whose head of major events, Karena Finnie, praised the festival organisers.

“Callam and his team have defied the negative headwinds that have affected music festivals worldwide and the success of Electric Avenue shows Ōtautahi Christchurch has something for everyone.”