Electric Avenue is going from strength to strength, an organiser says, and will be expanded next year, for its tenth anniversary. Photo: Supplied / Electric Avenue
The country's biggest one-day music festival will be a two day affair next year, organisers say.
Electric Avenue will be held on 21 and 22 February when it returns to Christchurch's Hagley Park, to mark its ten year anniversary.
Festival director Callam Mitchell is forecasting the event to be "the biggest party in Australasia ...Next year's festival will be the equivalent of this year's one on steroids."
About 60,000 people are expected through the gates over two days, including 35,000 for the final day of the weekend, a Saturday.
A post was shared on the event's social media channels on Wednesday, with an image displaying the number '2'.
The festival has become a key annual fixture during the country's summer festival calendar since its inaugural event in 2015.
A crowd of about 35,000 converged on Hagley Park for the event's most recent edition earlier this year, with The Chemical Brothers, Six60, L.A.B., Shapeshifter and Synthony No. 2 heading up the bill.
It also proved to be a major cash cow for the Garden City.
Economic development agency ChristchurchNZ said the festival pumped $6.3 million of visitor spend into the city.
The full lineup of artists is expected to be revealed in early September, including 20 international and 40 local acts across four stages.
Organisers said they are "committed" to ensuring the starting price for a two-day general admission ticket will be capped at about 30 percent higher than the average price of a ticket to this year's event, amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Arduous economic times have reportedly hit the live music market across the Tasman hard.
Australia's live music industry is the subject of a parliamentary inquiry at present, following a bumpy 12 months in which several major festivals were cancelled.
However, Electric Avenue's promoters claim the live music scene here is going from "strength to strength".
"As our profile has grown internationally, interest has grown among the artists who now really want to perform here - hence the reason for wanting to celebrate our 10th birthday with a bang," Mitchell said.
"Ultimately Electric Avenue is an opportunity for New Zealanders to experience a world-class event but save on the international airfare and not need to camp."
Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger said it was "amazing" to have an event of this scale in the heart of central Christchurch.
"When we invest in events it's to develop them to become internationally significant, so this is a prime example."
