NEWS
AUSTRALIA
Sydney gets new Summertime series
The Sydney Summertime concert series is to make its debut next year with a lineup including The Strokes, Beck and Courtney Barnett. Promoted by Black Peach X, the independent events company founded by Jessica Ducrou and Elise Huntley, the new show series of standalone concerts at Centennial Park is set to run from late February into early March. Ducrou and Huntley have previously worked on Splendour in the Grass, Falls Festival, Homebake, Harvest Rock, Download Festival and Sydney City Limits. Moshtix is the official ticketing partner, and the event is supported by Destination NSW. The show series will see The Strokes’ first Australian headline concert since 2022.
NEW ZEALAND
Electric Avenue festival set for expansion
Organisers of the Electric Avenue festival in Christchurch have outlined a plan to expand the event to a capacity of around 70,000. The expansion is reportedly planned for the 2028 edition with the aim of using additional areas within Hagley Park to grow the festival’ s footprint. The event, which was expanded to two days for its tenth edition, in 2025, has become one of the largest festivals in Australasia, able to attract big name international talent. Among the headliners announced for next year’ s edition, on 26-27 February, are Calvin Harris, Kings of Leon, Jungle, Underworld and Major Lazer. The event is run by Christchurch-based events company Team Event, which was bought by Live Nation last year.
KOREA
Ticket tout who made £ 1.3m busted
South Korean police have arrested an alleged ticket scalper who sold nearly 9,000 tickets for concerts and sporting events worth an estimated ₩ 2.4bn(£ 1.3m). Referred to prosecutors on obstruction-of-business charges, the suspect allegedly used automated macro programmes, or bots, and accounts registered to relatives to buy in bulk between September 2018 and April 2026. Police said a 2019 BTS ticket bought for ₩ 110,000(£ 60) was resold for ₩ 3m(£ 1,640) with some markups reaching 30 times face value. In South Korea, the amended Public Performance Act, which has been in force since 28 August, makes illicit resale punishable.
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