Words by Hannah Powell.

Yo Vocal gets down to business with RDU 98.5FM about ZORZA, Christchurch’s newest grassroots music festival. A festival that moves between three different venues with fifteen acts over one evening, we talked to ZORZA Event Manager, Kendra, about what to expect. You’re in for one hell of a treat.

“You never know where or when you’ll find your next favourite artist.” Welcome to ZORZA, a one-night festival to be held on Saint Asaph Street, Christchurch on the 12 November. Think one wristband, three venues, and a whole lot of kiwi talent. Moving between Space Academy, 12 Bar, and Darkroom, the music will never stop playing. “There’ll always be something on,” Kendra says.

Hosted by local alternative station RDU 98.5 FM, ZORZA was created by the station staff. “The team came up with this idea post-COVID to start an event,” Kendra explains. “[We] hope to build it into something even bigger in the future. It was about creating something this year to start.”

There’s news behind the name too. “We actually started off by trying to create a name from any different names smashed together to represent the local music community coming together,” she says.

“Eventually we came upon ZORZA…after a quick Google search, we discovered it was actually a Polish word that represents a new dawn or new dusk. Post-COVID we wanted to assist our local grassroots industry – the musicians who were unable to perform, the venues who were unable to open and in the industry itself; the poster artists, sound and lighting technicians, photographers, videographers and everyone in between.”

Kendra agrees that with other cities having long-established live music scenes, post-quake Christchurch hasn’t been so lucky with many venues lost in the 2010/2011 quakes. So we say out with the old, and in with the new. With a lot of potential and opportunities for the taking, she says, “Christchurch is really interesting right now…we’ve got so much space to grow.”

Post-quake, and now post-COVID, the city’s been building from the ground up. But with a recent influx of new venues, music collectives and platforms to launch, Christchurch’s music scene has hit a massive up. The Garden City has got a lot of good things. Get excited, as there are even better things to come.

With a thriving electronic scene and a big dose of doof, it’s the bands, Kendra says, that we want to give more attention to. With Christchurch’s live band scene in need of a boost-up, ZORZA, Kendra says, is here to do just that. The festival’s main focus is on the bands to give them another platform to perform. It’s to be a stellar showcase of some incredible grassroots talent.

Although featuring Dunedin’s Hot Donnas, Juno Is, Lucy Hunter, Vincent H.L and psych band Koizilla, the majority of acts are Christchurch based. Get hyped for Mousey, Marsha, and Model Home, Head Full of Snakes, Liam K, Swiggs, Internet Death and Nervous Jerk, as well as The Transistors, Too Woke for Toast and Toyota.

Self-described as a grassroots festival exploring different genres, tempos and mind-melting sonics, Kendra says, “we’re kind of hoping people will stumble in [to a venue] and think ‘holy shit, this is cool’”. “If you like any of those artists on the line-up, come along. You’ll find four more artists you like that you might not have heard before,” she says.

RDU 98.5FM will be launching their annual beer in association with Three Boys Brewery too. Rest assured, the RDBru ‘Z-Power Juice’ will be on tap to give you an alternative reality of flavour throughout the night.

Think good vibes, think new music, think sick venues, and a sweet crowd. Support local. Your ears will thank you for it.

Buy tickets here

ZORZA: Christchurch’s newest grassroots music festival