Who’s playing Electric Avenue? 40,000 don’t know, but have booked flights or registered for tickets anyway

Wednesday, 25 March 2026

It feels like yesterday that 90,000 people partied their way through Hagley Park for Australasia’s biggest music festival – but Electric Avenue 2027 is already right around the corner.

Within six hours of pre-sale registration opening on Wednesday, more than 55,000 tickets were registered – with some Aucklanders already booking flights to Christchurch – all without knowing a single artist on the lineup.

“This level of demand is unprecedented and we haven’t even announced the lineup yet,” festival director Callam Mitchell said.

The early interest comes as organisers switch from Moshtix to Ticketmaster’s digital ticketing platform in a bid to crack down on scalpers and scammers who plagued this year’s sellout event, he said.

“We decided to announce next year’s date and open up pre-registration early to help ensure our most loyal Electric Avenue fans a better chance of securing tickets.”

They also wanted to give the roughly 50% of people who travel from out of town the opportunity to start making plans.

Electric Avenue 2026 sold out in 20 minutes, leaving thousands of fans empty-handed and sparking an underground resale market where one person reportedly made $11,000 flipping tickets, while others lost hundreds to scammers.

Mitchell said they switched to Ticketmaster because its digital ticketing system provides encrypted, rotating digital tickets designed to prevent ticket scalping.

This year’s Electric Avenue welcomed 90,000 fans across two days for a 53-act lineup featuring reformed Kiwi legends Split Enz, pop icon Kesha, Australian DJ Dom Dolla, Basement Jaxx, The Streets and Pendulum.

Aucklander Nick Kennedy has already booked his flights to Christchurch for next year’s festival, on February 26 and 27.

He trusts organisers will deliver “regardless of what lineup Team Events manage to pull together”.

“It isn’t just the lineup that makes a festival, it’s the people you get to enjoy the festival with that create the real memories,” he said.

“And I've been lucky enough to have a great bunch of people around me at the last few.”

Kennedy said he knows at least four others who have also locked in flights without knowing who’s performing.

However, pre-registration through Ticketmaster doesn’t guarantee tickets, Mitchell said.

The pre-sale opens at 8am on April 9, with only two-day passes available and a six-ticket limit per person. Those who miss out get another chance when general sales open later in the year.

Despite social media speculation about expanding to three days or two weekends – sparked after the festival’s TikTok account liked a comment suggesting the change – Mitchell said no major format changes are planned for 2027.

“We made a significant step up this year in terms of attendance and site footprint, so the focus now is on refining and enhancing the experience,” he said.

They’re always listening to what people are asking for though, Mitchell said, including reading the comments on social media.

“And while nothing is locked in, we are exploring what future growth could look like from 2028 onwards.”