Tauranga is set to turn from a sunny, seaside city to ground zero for one of New Zealand biggest music battles.

Battle of the Bands – National Championship has been an annual feature of the New Zealand music scene since 1993, and will be hosted at Vinyl Destination on October 20.

Since 1993, the event has developed significant brand recognition and is strongly supported, says founder, organiser and promoter Andrew Featherstone.

Many well-known NZ music artists have been previous winners and finalists of the event; such as Opshop, Tadpole, Blinspott, Bakers Eddy, Skinny Hobos, Strangely Arousing, Brendon Thomas and the Vibes, The Rubics, Alien Weaponery and Devilskin – just to name a few.

'Each year the event consists of around 30 -50 live shows held at leading professional live music venues throughout the country,” says Andrew.

'Bands from all over NZ compete locally for a place at the National Final, which is held in Auckland.

This year the 23rd year of Battle of the Bands – National Championship.

ENTRIES OPEN NOW: Entries are now open via the website. http://battleofthebands.co.nz

TIME LINE OF THE EVENT

Heats have just started in Hamilton, Auckland and Christchurch with nationwide events running throughout October & November.

Regional Finals will be in November with the National Final held at Galatos in Auckland on Friday 14 December.

All dates and venues are now confirmed and can be seen on the ‘event dates' section of the website: http://battleofthebands.co.nz/competition.php

To be keep up to date with event developments, please LIKE our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Newzealandbattleofthebands