Electric Avenue opens ballot for final 4000 tickets

The ballot allocating the final 4000 tickets to Australasia’s biggest music festival, Electric Avenue, has opened.

In an email today, organisers shared a link to a ballot, offering a final chance for locals to purchase general admission weekend festival tickets for Electric Avenue 2027.

The additional weekend passes will be available exclusively to residents of Christchurch City and the Selwyn and Waimakariri districts.

More than half of Electric Avenue festival-goers have come from outside Christchurch. Photo / Radlab

Those entering the ballot also need to provide proof of their current residential address as part of their entry, and, if applicable, those of a second person.

Entries are then selected through an automated random ballot, with a maximum of 4000 tickets available.

Organisers will then verify the identity and proof-of-address documents of those successful on the ballot.

Ticketmaster will also check that applicants do not already hold tickets associated with their registered email addresses.

Successful and verified ballot applicants will then receive a unique purchase link, and tickets must be purchased before the specified deadline.

Local tickets are also not eligible for resale, can’t be transferred and are non-refundable.

• Electric Avenue releases 4000 extra festival passes exclusively for locals

It comes after the festival’s 2027 iteration sold out “almost instantly” in September, with tens of thousands of fans joining online queues as soon as tickets went live.

Festival organisers are exploring a campsite near Hagley Park. Photo / George Heard

Organisers also confirmed last week they were exploring camping options near the festival to reduce accommodation costs and travel congestion.

A survey sent to festival attendees asked about travel plans and raised the idea of camping at the two-day festival.

“If festival camping were available in the Christchurch area for a future Electric Avenue, would you consider using it?” one survey question asked.

There was also mention of what dedicated direct buses from selected areas might look like for 2027.

The festival organisers said the two ideas were “exploratory at this point”, with nothing confirmed at this stage.

Electric Avenue founder and managing director Callam Mitchell said at the time a small percentage of attendees already camped at camping grounds around the wider Christchurch area.

“So we are looking at whether we can set up a larger temporary camping ground somewhere a little bit more central,” he said.

Mitchell said the camping wouldn’t be in Hagley Park, but within walking distance of the festival.

He emphasised the idea was still hypothetical, and while he had one possible city site in mind, he declined to disclose where.

Event organisers have also been working with Environment Canterbury (ECan) over the past few months to understand how the city’s transport network was affected by the event this year, particularly on Friday afternoon.

“We know peak arrival time can clash with after-work and after-school traffic”, Mitchell said.

In addition to ECan, Mitchell said he had been talking to Bentley Coachlines, the University of Canterbury and its students’ association.

He said he was assessing “looking at other solutions, including buses from designated pick-up spots”.

Calvin Harris will be a major attraction at Electric Avenue 2027. Photo / Ollie Millington, Redferns

Electric Avenue is at Hagley Park, Christchurch, on February 26 and 27.

Multiplatinum rock band Kings of Leon will return to Christchurch for the first time in 19 years.

Joining Kings of Leon at the top of the bill is Calvin Harris, one of the most globally successful electronic artists of his generation.

Attendees at last year’s event spent almost $14 million, according to an economic impact report.