MEDIA RELEASE
New Music Festival For Queenstown

Queenstown is to host New Zealand’s newest music festival in early January.

The first Peak Festival will take place on the 3rd of January 2009, at the Queenstown Events Centre, and will become an annual one-day music event.

The concept for the full-day Peak Festival is a summer music event with a laidback day-in-the-park atmosphere; encompassing mainly dub, downbeat and dance music styles.  The festival will host two stages: the venue’s cricket ground becomes the main stage, while the indoor stadium is to be the Ministry Of Sound room, comprising local and international DJ talent.

The first release of artists announced includes local stars KORA and SALMONELLA DUB, plus renowned UK dance act the UTAH SAINTS.

“The purpose of this year’s Peak Festival is to provide a professionally run & environmentally friendly event,” says Festival Director Chris Cole.  “In the years to come, we want the event itself to be larger than the acts that actually attend – we are here to stay, and as the years move forward the calibre of the acts will continue to grow.”

Cole has been involved in promoting music festivals for over 30 years. His experience extends not only to New Zealand, but also to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong, promoting bands such as U2, Basement Jaxx, Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, INXS, UB40, Jurassic 5, Roger Sanchez, and many more.

Kora
Kora have experienced a huge rise in popularity in recent years with their impressive live shows.  Their self-titled debut album was released in October 2007, and shot to Number #1 in the New Zealand album charts -- remaining in the charts a year later, having sold in excess of 20,000 copies to date. It has been nominated for Best Aotearoa Roots Album at October’s Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. Kora will have just completed touring Australia and Europe prior to their performance at Peak Festival.
http://www.kora.co.nz

Salmonella Dub
As New Zealand’s pioneering dub act, Salmonella Dub need little introduction, and the veteran group has a long-standing affinity with the South Island, having called it home for the last 16 years. Last year saw the release of their latest studio album Heal Me, which has now exceeded platinum sales status. In February, they collaborated with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and guests on a four-date tour. The tour produced their latest release, a live album titled Feel The Seasons Change, released on the 22nd September.
http://www.salmonelladub.com

Utah Saints
Headlining the Ministry of Sound Room, the Utah Saints are an English dance duo with a long and high-profile history in the British dance scene They have sold over 2 million records worldwide, and have had six Top 40 hits in the UK, four of those in the Top 10. Their live shows have taken them to Glastonbury, Reading and V-Festivals, and on tour with U2.

The Utah Saints are notable for their pioneering use of combining samples from mainstream pop and rock songs with contrasting dance beats, a practice that predated the mash-up scene by several years.  REM’s Michael Stipe and Hole’s Courtney Love both named the Utah Saints self-titled debut album as their favourite dance album of all time.
http://www.myspace.com/utahsaints

Tickets for Peak Festival will go on sale from Monday the 22nd of September through Ticket Direct http://www.ticketdirect.co.nz or 0800 4 TICKET. A list of ticket outlets throughout New Zealand is available online.  

Early bird tickets are available for $75 + booking fee.  Once the special price allocation is exhausted, the ticket price is $89 + booking fee.

More artists are due to be announced over the coming weeks.

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