Taylor Swift tops Selwyn mayor’s wish-list for Te Kaha - along with good transport

Tuesday, 1 July 2025

Taylor Swift lit up Wembley Stadium for her Eras Tour in June last year. There are many who want a similarly major act to open Te Kaha.

Pop megastar Taylor Swift is at the top of one Canterbury mayor’s list to lift the curtain at Christchurch’s new stadium, but he has his sights set on more practical decision-making ahead of its opening next year.

The $638 million One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha, is set to open in April after more than a decade of planning, with the first seat having been just installed.

Selwyn mayor Sam Broughton knows the American singer’s music all too well, having seen the 14-time Grammy award winner perform at Wembley in 2024 for her Eras tour.

Another chance to see Swift in action would be too hard to pass up, he said, but the bigger question on Broughton’s mind were the logistics of how to get event-goers from A to B.

In a major milestone moment, the first seat has been installed at Te Kaha One New Zealand Stadium.

More than 570,000 people live in Greater Christchurch. The stadium will be able to host a 30,000-strong seated crowd and a minimum of 36,000 people at large music events, and visitors are expected from across the region and beyond.

Christchurch City Council last year estimated it had 13,000 car parks in the city centre available to the public, excluding restricted spaces such as five-minute parking spaces.

Broughton said he would like to see tickets for events integrated with those for public transport, and extra buses or shuttles put on across Greater Christchurch during events to cut the number of vehicles on the roads and get people around safely.

Motu Move, a cashless national transport ticketing system being trialled in Canterbury, could hold the key to the idea, Broughton said.

Selwyn mayor Sam Broughton wants to see Taylor Swift perform - again.

“We need to be able to do that in Te Kaha.”

Taranaki Regional Council scheduled free buses across the region when the Yarrows Taranaki Bulls played a Ranfurly Shield rugby match in June.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) has set aside $100,000 to pay for transport costs associated with the stadium for the coming year. It will increase to $400,000 for the following year.

While Broughton may be a “Swifty”, Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger would not say who or what he would like to see as the opening act at the stadium, just that he would love a “nice big concert or sporting event to kick everything off”, and for people from outside Christchurch to attend the events.

He also would not comment on ticketing systems, saying it was up to Venues Ōtautahi.

Venues Ōtautahi, ECan, and Waimakariri District Council have been approached for comment.