500 already in the running for 20 spots in stadium behind-the-scenes tour

Friday, 21 March 2025

More than 500 people have already put their name into a ballot for a coveted behind-the-scenes peek at Christchurch’s new One New Zealand stadium at Te Kaha.

A tour of the inside of the covered stadium is being offered as part of the annual Open Christchurch architecture festival taking place May 2 to 4.

But chances of being one of the lucky ones to see the inside of the stadium ahead of its official opening in April next year are slim, with organisers confirming there are only “about 20 spots” available.

For this reason guests will be determined by ballot rather than simple ticket sales, like what is being offered for the other sites that are part of the festival.

The festival is organised each year by Te Pūtahi, the Centre for Architecture and City-Making.

Registrations opened on Thursday evening.

Te Pūtahi director Jessica Halliday said they modelled the idea for determining stadium guests via ballot after the Open House architecture festival that takes place in London every year.

“They also run ballots when they’ve got really popular buildings that they know will have massive public interest.”

It is the first time Open Christchurch has run a ballot for entry to a building, and the stadium is the only building in this year’s programme being made available to visit this way. By noon on Friday more than 500 people had already entered the ballot.

Another popular site, the Christ Church Cathedral, has a total of 80 tickets available that will be divided into four separate tours.

Halliday acknowledged getting a sneak peek of the stadium was “a really limited opportunity”, but said she was thrilled Christchurch City Council had agreed to make the “significant new landmark” part of this year’s festival.

“It is honestly incredible that they are making time for us to get anybody in, and we hope this is just the first of many more opportunities for the public.

“The stadium opens in April next year and Open Christchurch 2026 will be hot on the heels of that, so we’re hopeful the stadium will be part of the line-up again next year,” she said.

The stadium tour is set to take place on Sunday, May 4 at 10.30am, and visitors will be able to go behind the fences and get up close to grandstands, while taking in the roofline from the inside.

It is one of many architecturally significant sites in Christchurch that will be opened to the public as part of Open Christchurch, including the new Court Theatre on Gloucester St, the Christ Church Cathedral, the mothballed Canterbury Provincial Council building and Dame Sue Bagshaw’s recently opened one-of-a-kind youth facility.

Only 14 of the buildings that form part of the festival require pre-bookings. The majority will be open during the festival weekend for walk-ins.

Te Kaha project director Kent Summerfield said the limited spots were because the stadium is a construction site “and our priorities are ensuring the safety of visitors and workers, and minimising disruption to our core goal of building a state-of-the-art stadium for Christchurch”.

Summerfield said he understood there was a lot of public interest in the stadium, which is why when Open Christchurch organisers approached the council, “we worked out a window of time that it would be possible to bring through a small group”.

“Opportunities for larger numbers to tour One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha will become available once construction is finished and the facility is handed over to the operators Venues Ōtautahi.”

The roofed stadium is due to open in mid-2026 at a total cost of $683 million, of which $200m has come from central government.

Ratepayers’ contributions, spread over 30 years, will peak at an average of $4 a week this decade.