Grammy-nominated Australian DJ Fisher will make history in January, headlining iconic cricket venue Bay Oval’s first major music event.
It’s the latest in a series of transformations for the Mount Maunganui ground, which in recent years has also served as a World Cup football training pitch and a sold-out Super Rugby venue.
Organisers are promising a “landmark” and “world-class” production, with more than 20,000 electronic music fans expected to fill the venue.
Paul Nicholas Fisher has been producing house music for over a decade, performing everywhere from Auckland’s Victoria Park to the major United States festival Coachella.
The 38-year-old’s breakout hit Losing It became one of the biggest dance records of the decade, with more than half a billion streams, and was nominated for the Best Dance Recording Grammy.
Trademark Live co-director Toby Burrows said bringing Fisher to Mount Maunganui was a plan five years in the making.
“We have always wanted to deliver something iconic at Bay Oval. It has been a long and careful process of applying for consent and making sure we had the perfect artist to launch with a bang.”
Burrows said establishing a headlining music show at a venue for the first time meant starting from scratch.
“How the stage sits, how the crowd flows, how we look after the pitch. It’s a big puzzle and there is a lot of problem-solving, but that’s all part of it.”
He told the Bay of Plenty Times that Bay Oval was an “iconic venue” and organisers wanted an artist who could fill it properly for its concert debut.
“This is a landmark moment – the biggest artist to ever perform in the Bay and is something the city will have never experienced before.”
He said it would be “world-class, with Fisher’s energy bouncing across the oval and out to the ocean”.
Today’s announcement comes a month after Burrows announced reggae superstars UB40, featuring Ali Campbell, would perform at Bay Oval at Waitangi Weekend, as part of the Kingston Calling 2026 tour.
The concerts will fall during the venue’s international cricket season, from October to March.
The Oval will stage New Zealand’s international cricket season-opener with a three-match T20 series in October.
It will also host an ODI against England, a West Indies test, and a South Africa double-header with the Black Caps and White Ferns.
The venue’s biggest event to date was its first Super Rugby match on Anzac Day, where the Chiefs returned to Tauranga after more than a decade of no games in the region. Just over 12,000 people attended.
Bay Oval general manager Kelvin Jones said the diversification of Bay Oval as more than just a cricket venue had always been at the back of his mind.
Jones was confident Bay Oval would be a good host for the concert.
“We want to be a real cricket ground first and foremost, that’s what our focus has been, but a community facility that can do other events is a win-win for everybody.”
Jones said Bay Oval was a $30 million asset, and it should be used as much as possible.
“We’re a big city. We should have these events.”
He said hosting a concert of this nature was a learning curve, especially with it falling in the cricket season.
“I often say you don’t know what you don’t know, but we seek advice from others who have done it.”
Preserving the ground’s assets – particularly the cricket wicket – was the top priority for Jones.
“Protecting our ground to make sure we can still play cricket a few weeks later is crucial, but also, the crowds are probably double what we’d get at a big cricket game.
“Being in the Mount is half our battle; it’s where people want to be.”
The ground hosts about 10,000 people for cricket matches, and Jones expected more than 20,000 for Fisher.
Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said seeing Bay Oval expand into hosting an international artist of this calibre spoke to the versatility of the venue and ambition for the city.
“Events of this scale bring significant economic benefit to the local economy and allow us to showcase what our city and region has to offer.”
Drysdale said he would love to see Tauranga as the event capital of New Zealand.
“Tauranga is proving it is a fantastic destination for events, and our reputation as a great host city continues to grow.”
The full line-up for the Fisher Bay Oval concert will be announced in October, and tickets go on sale next week.
The Spark presale opens at 7pm on Tuesday, and the Trademark Live presale opens 7pm Wednesday.
Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.