A Timaru-born musician is set to take to the main stage at the biggest festival in Australasia this weekend.
Indie-pop artist Caitlin Bradley, who goes by the artist name CAITLIN , will be performing on Saturday to a sold out crowd of about 45,000 people at Christchurch’s Electric Avenue Festival.
Bradley said the opportunity came after meeting with festival founder and director Callam Mitchell.
‘‘I met with Callam, gave him a bit of a pitch of my music and what I do. I had also previously played at Nostalgia festival which is run by Team Event as well, it’s kind of Electric Ave’s baby sister event.
‘‘Later on I ended up getting an email from him saying ‘I’ve been listening to your music, I love it, and I’d love to book you for the main stage at Electric Ave’.’’
She said it would be the biggest performance of her career so far.
‘‘It will be the biggest stage, the most amount of people and the biggest production as well. It’s such a big opportunity for me, I’m really, really looking forward to it.
‘‘Electric Ave’s been a festival I’ve enjoyed going to for quite a few years now, especially since I’ve been living in Christchurch. It’s become quite a staple and special thing for Canterbury to be proud of.
‘‘I think it’s the biggest festival in Australasia now, it’s such a cool thing to have in Christchurch and I feel very privileged to be a part of it. I’m super excited.’’
Bradley said it was bit of a different experience preparing for this performance than previous gigs.
‘‘You want to really put your best foot forward with an opportunity like this. I’ve been putting in lots of rehearsals and like really re-thinking my live show as well.
‘‘I’ve got my new EP coming out soon too, so I’ll be road testing that as well, which will be great.’’
She said 2026 was shaping up to be a big year.
‘‘I’m really honing in on my songwriting craft a lot at the moment. I feel like I’ve been through a phase of really investing a lot in learning production, getting my skills set up and expressing myself creatively through that.
‘‘As I’ve finished this latest EP, I’m definitely back in a writing phase. I’m also planning a trip to the UK later in the year to do some writing and do some meetings over there to try and expand my career.
‘‘This year’s big focuses will be a lot on writing, playing shows and getting the EP out there.’’
