Cross Street Music Festival has revealed the first names on its bill for Saturday 28 November 2026, and the independent Tฤmaki Makaurau event looks to be building towards its biggest edition yet in its eighth year running.
Topping the first announcement are Sola Rosa, MELODOWNZ, Borderline, Lilbubblegum, DARTZ and Where’s Jai, a lineup that swings from electronic and hip-hop through to indie pop and rock without much regard for genre lines, pairing artists who’ve been part of the furniture here for years with a newer crop already turning heads at home and overseas.
Sola Rosa is the long-running vehicle for Auckland musician Andrew Spraggon, who’s spent more than two decades folding funk, soul, R&B, hip-hop and electronic music into whatever shape suits the moment. His new record In The Mids swings the focus squarely back to the dancefloor.
MELODOWNZ, out of Avondale, brings a reggae-inflected strain of hip-hop built on sharp writing and unmistakable West Auckland attitude. His debut album Lone Wolf paired him with Denzel Curry and Maxo Kream alongside homegrown names like Troy Kingi, Bailey Wiley and Diggy Dupรฉ.
Borderline trade in big choruses, funk-driven grooves and indie pop hooks that are hard to shake. What started as four mates making music together in Auckland has since taken them to SXSW and The Great Escape, shows across New York and LA, and a support slot for Teddy Swims on his New Zealand arena dates.
Lilbubblegum began writing and recording on his phone at 15, cutting his teeth in SoundCloud’s underground scene before his hazy, internet-raised take on hip-hop broke through with the viral hit af1. He’s since signed to US label Listen To The Kids and worked alongside Yung Gravy, Rico Nasty, Jasiah and SXMPRA.
Wellington four-piece DARTZ specialise in fast, loud rock ‘n’ roll built for a room full of sweaty bodies. As the story goes, the band talked their way into a support slot for The Chats after being booked for a single show, a foot-in-the-door move that’s since spiralled into hundreds of gigs, two chart-topping Flying Nun albums, a Taite Prize nomination and two Aotearoa Music Awards. A third album is on the way.
Rounding out the named acts are Where’s Jai, five 19-year-olds from Tฤmaki Makaurau serving up high-energy pop-rock led by vocalists Grace Allis and Leigh Edmeades: big hooks, bigger feelings and a fair dose of chaos thrown in.
The first drop also includes Spell, BBYFACEKILA, Snakelegs, Mokomokai, Spdrtwnbby, Roy Irwin, Great South, Bub Band, Love Language, Beatniks, Magic Factory, Murry Sweetpants, Erin G, Tiger Lotiss, Hales and Noa Records, with organisers confirming more names are still to come.
Festival Director Anya Vitali says the event has always been about more than just who’s on the poster:
“Independent music needs places where artists can get on stage, shape their identity, find new audiences and be discovered โ but it also needs community. Cross Street has always been about bringing people together โ artists, audiences, local businesses and the wider community โ creating a space where people can come together and express themselves. We should celebrate the brilliant music being made right here in Aotearoa, often without huge budgets or big machines behind it. These are the artists shaping what comes next, and they deserve to be heard. You might come because you know one name on the line-up and leave obsessed with someone you’d never heard before. That’s the fun of Cross Street!”
Free daytime programming runs from midday across the K’ Road precinct, with music, art and other activity to stumble across ahead of the ticketed evening shows, which run from 4pm to 10.30pm.
This year’s poster comes from Tanja McMillan, known as Misery, a longtime fixture of Karangahape Road’s visual landscape. Hand-painted by McMillan, it depicts The Magician, the Major Arcana tarot card tied to manifestation and turning ideas into action, an apt image for a festival now in its eighth year. McMillan’s connection to K’ Road runs deeper still: her bronze sculptures Twist and Thief, made with John Oz, nod to lesser-known chapters of the street’s history, from the circus elephants once paraded on the roof of George Court’s department store to the fruit and vegetable stalls that used to line the block.
Early bird tickets for Cross Street Music Festival 2026 are on sale now, with free, all-ages programming also running at the Mercury Stage and other spots along K’ Road. The festival is supported by Auckland Live and Auckland Council Events.