Over the last 15 years, there has been a rise in interest in mid-winter city music festivals across Australia and Aotearoa. Generally speaking, the format is a series of standalone concerts and nightclub gigs held at nearby venues, often tied together by pop-up art installations, light displays, food courts, or bars. If you\u2019re reading this, chances are you\u2019re familiar with popular examples of the form like Dark Mofo in Hobart, Sydney\u2019s Vivid LIVE<\/a>, or RISING in Melbourne.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n L\u014demis<\/a>, an 11-year-old festival held in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, isn\u2019t as well known as the aforementioned events, but it deserves to be on your radar. <\/span><\/p>\n Between June 9th-21st, they\u2019re hosting close to 30 events, an expansive and invigorating mix of music, film, food, dance workshops, art shows, and surreal public processions.<\/span><\/p>\n On the music front, L\u014demis offers a dazzling array of international post-punk, psychedelic rock, synth-pop, ambient, and dance acts, bands and DJs, such as Acid Mothers Temple, Cate Le Bon<\/a>, Chanel Beads, Kavari, Kelly Moran, Lydia Lunch, Mei Semones, Snapped Ankles, and These New South Whales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They\u2019ll also be presenting some sublime local exclusives. Expect Dimmer<\/a> frontman Shayne P. Carter reimagining his songbook with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, multi-genre songwriter Troy Kingi<\/a> tackling hip-hop with a posse of Night Lords, and a Midwinter Solstice Ball with some of Auckland\u2019s best underground club DJs at the controls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Outside of its core concert programming, L\u014demis\u2019 2026 also includes a special screening of the cult Swedish-American folk horror film <\/span>Midsommar<\/span><\/i>, a bustling night market, and Melbourne\u2019s Hope Street Radio popping up at Puffin Bar for a weekend. Add in various other curiosities, and you\u2019ve got a festival that reveals itself as a smorgasbord of multi-sensory delights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In advance of the proceedings, Rolling Stone AU\/NZ<\/em> spoke with the festival\u2019s founder and artistic director, Andrew Laking. We talked about the festival\u2019s origins, its organic growth, and why Wellington is a great place to run events that take risks and try new things.<\/span><\/p>\n Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian\/New Zealand music and globally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nLove Music?<\/h2>\n
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