Lorde to headline Electric Avenue festival in Christchurch

Lorde at Glastonbury in June. Photo: Getty Images
Lorde at Glastonbury in June. Photo: Getty Images
Electric Avenue is returning to Hagley Park in February - and Lorde is coming back to New Zealand to headline the festival.

The Grammy-winning artist is just one of several big names set to entertain at the Christchurch music festival on February 25, 2023.

Alongside Lorde, Flume will also perform for crowds expected to number over 30,000 in Christchurch in 2023.

Kiwi star acts Fat Freddy's Drop, L.A.B., Teeks and Supergroove will also perform, as well as international artists like Future Islands and Peking Duk.

Around 50 artists will perform across five different stages, including a temporary indoor arena with a capacity of 100,000.

Dance music phenomenon Synthony will also be making its festival debut, with another British drum and bass headliner to be announced in November.

It comes after festival promoters were forced to cancel the event earlier this year due to Covid-19 restrictions.

This year's event was originally set to take place on February 26, but was cancelled in January following the move into the red traffic light setting of the Covid-19 Protection Framework.

It was on the verge of selling out, with over 90 per cent of tickets having already been sold.

And organisers are expecting a turnout of 30,000 to return this year.

Electric Avenue organisers are expecting 30,000 people to attend. Photo: George Heard
Electric Avenue organisers are expecting 30,000 people to attend. Photo: George Heard
Festival director Callam Mitchell says this year's line-up, marking the eighth time the festival has been held, is its "strongest" to date.

"It's a real privilege to be able to have artists of the calibre of Lorde and Flume on the programme."

Mitchell says the musical diversity of the festival is one of the biggest reasons for its appeal.

"We started out with 8000 people at our first Electric Avenue in 2015 so it's pretty special to be hosting 30,000 people dancing to 50 artists over 12 hours in the most amazing central city park that this country has.

"Quality music is quality music whether its soul, drum & bass, rock, techno or hip hop as far as we're concerned, and we've never tied ourselves to a particular style or genre."