Wellington audiences are hungry for live events post-lockdown with more than 11,500 tickets being snapped up to shows
since moving to Alert Level 1.
With school holidays approaching, Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat stage show has proved a great option for families, with 2,600
tickets sold to its three performances at The Opera House on 6 July.
However, Kiwi indie-pop phenomenon Benee is leading Wellington ticket sales this month after announcing her New Zealand
tour earlier in June. With tickets to her first show at Shed 6 selling well, she added another two Wellington
performances in October, with 4000 tickets already sold.
For electronic music audiences, Breaking Beats Winter Meltdown Rave is the other big seller for June, with their Shed 6
show selling out in approximately 20 minutes, prompting organisers to upgrade the event to TSB Arena.
WellingtonNZ General Manager Warrick Dent says with New Zealand’s continued border restrictions, the Wellington 2020
events schedule will be entirely Kiwi acts, however sales across all genres are unaffected.
“Not only is this a positive sign for Wellington with people excited to get back out and experience live events across
all our venues, but it’s a show of great confidence in our New Zealand artists and performers as well.”
In fact, the number of tickets sold over the period of 9 June – 28 June is tracking higher than 2019 tickets sales over
the same period.
Not only will events boost visitors from outside the region, but they will bring Wellingtonians back in to the CBD,
providing a much needed boost to the hospitality, retail and accommodation sectors, he says.
And there’s more to come. While October and November are already filling up with Wellington’s landmark major events like
Beervana, Visa Wellington On a Plate, Toast Martinborough and Beers at the Basin, there will be more shows coming to
Wellington venues.
“Our Events and Experience team have been working tirelessly to create a great lineup of domestic content across all
genres. We can expect more announcements for classical performance, comedy, rock and dance music in the coming months,”
Dent says.