KEY POINTS:
Auckland may have The Big Day Out but Neil Cox is determined music lovers in the South Island will have a musical festival they can call their own.
Southern Amp, on Saturday at Christchurch's AMI Stadium, will be Cox's second time organising the festival and this time around
he says it is a more focused effort.
The 12-hour music festival will feature more than 40 bands and DJs on three separate stages, a musical arsenal which the mainland has not seen for years.
The lineup of acts on the mainstage is impressive and includes Shihad, The Black Seeds, Evermore, Thirsty Merc, Opshop, The Veils, Atlas, DDub, Dukes and The Valves.
The Ministry of Sound will host its own stage within a "mega-marquee", essentially an enclosed nightclub, housing up to 1200 people.
Those heading to The Ministry of Sound stage can take their pick of acts, including Scribe, Greg Churchill, Dick Johnson, Concord Dawn, OB1 and Rare Shot Blue.
However it's the Christchurch Music Industry Stage line-up which Cox says created a great buzz amongst the local music community.
British-born Cox says they received about 60 applications from homegrown talent to play on the third stage.
Based outside the main arena, Cox says the third stage will showcase the wealth of musical talent Christchurch has.
"It created a real interest within the local music community."
Aside from the bands, the festival will feature the usual but just as vital side attractions, including a ferris wheel, bars, food stalls, a mobile phone charge station and, most importantly for any self-respecting southerner, the Speights Ale House .
Cox organised the last festival in 2005 -- where it was held at QEII Park -- and organisers deliberately decided not to hold the festival last year.
The decision was made so they could focus on this year's festival, which took more than a year to pull together, the foundations of which Cox's hopes will establish the festival as a must-do on the growing list of international festival events.
"This time it's been a lot more intense, a lot more focused, which has been really been good.
"We're pretty clear where this needs to get to in the next couple of years, we know we're in for the long haul."
Cox says despite the stellar musical line-up, he is realistic not to expect 20,000 people to turn up on Saturday.
"It's just the way the festivals build.
"The trust and awareness and passion from the people to go to the events and every year the target is to really double what we do."
Cox is quick to point out that people who do come along will have a fantastic time, "provided the weather is good".
The festival is also not an attempt to rival The Big Day Out but to give people a choice, he says.
"I don't think there is an alternative to The Big Day Out.
"We're not here to create a Big Day Out, we're here to create something the South Island doesn't have."
If anyone can develop such a fixture, it's Cox.
Involved in the music industry since his 20s, Cox -- now in his mid-40s -- has worked in South Africa, Britain, New Zealand and Australia with labels and bands.
Cox is committed to the music festival experience which he says is growing every year, especially in Europe.
"The music industry may be suffering in some areas with downloads but what you can not really recreate is the live experience -- you can't download that.
"That whole side of the business is growing rapidly throughout the world."
For Cox the goal is simple.
"In years to come we want to attract international acts, we want to grow the festival, we think it's natural home in Christchurch is the stadium we are in now."
Cox may be the only person at the festival on Saturday who won't be able to enjoy the event because he's working until it's over.
He also accepts there are some things he can't control.
"Every year you have to cross your fingers for the weather but everyone who comes along will be guaranteed a fabulous day out."
- NZPA
