Rockshop Bandquest is an annual series of shows held nationwide, hosting primary and intermediate school ages bands.
Get a band together from your school, and then fill out an entry form online. You will then receive an email with a form to be signed and sent back to us.
Entries are now closed to 2024.
Your band:
All contestants must be enrolled in Intermediate, Area, Primary, Preparatory or Correspondence school, and must be no older than (school) year 8.
A student can only enter in one Rockshop Bandquest band.
There is a maximum of 10 students, and minimum of 3 students, performing on stage in any band.
Each band is to be representing one school only.
An exception will be made where a student changes school after the entry form is submitted, and for students of Correspondence School.
You must perform in your closest region, or the Online region.
All bands from the same school must perform on the same day, where a region has more than one day.
Choose and start practicing your two songs!
You can write your own songs, if you want to, but it’s not compulsory. There is an award for best original song - Original Song Wright-er Award (winning $100 Cash for your School Music Department).
You get 6 min to perform, so you will need to juggle things carefully to fit. You can join songs together in a medley if you wish.
You can also just play one song if you do not want to compete, and just want the experience up on stage.
Now it's time to perform! Your regional final, held in either Aug or Sept, will be an unforgettable experience where you have 6 minutes to showcase your bands fantastic talent.
You will arrive with your band during the afternoon- after checking in, everyone will be briefed on how the show is going to run. You'll spend some time with the mentors, get familiar with the stage, and get ready for your big performance. Before hitting the stage you'll also spend some time with the Rockshop team getting tuned up.
Doors will open for your friends, fans, and whānau to come get their seats in the audience at either 6pm or 6.30pm (depending on the region). The show will kick off half an hour after doors open.
After all the bands have performed, the judges will go deliberate and decide on some special awards - and a guest band will perform. The winning act will be invited to submit a video for the national final.
Awards presented at the regional events -
1st - Winning credit with NZ Rockshops to the value of $300 for your School Music Department.
2nd - Winning credit with NZ Rockshops to the value of $300 for your School Music Department.
3rd - Winning credit with NZ Rockshops to the value of $300 for your School Music Department.
Plus...
- Original Song Wright-er Award – winning $100 Cash for your School Music Department
- Star Vocalist Award
- Specialist Instrument Award
- Rockstar Styles Award
- Killer Guitarist Award
- Rock-solid Bassist Award
- Rocking Drummer Award
- Outstanding Keyboardist Award
Each of the regional winners will be invited to submit a video of them performing for the Online Final. The video submissions will be viewed by a panel of judges, and the National Winners selected.
The National Final results will be posted in September.
1st $2000 Musical equipment from the Rockshop
2nd $1500 Musical equipment from the Rockshop
3rd $1000 Musical Equipment from the Rockshop
Plus...
- Original Song Wright-er Award – winning $200 Cash for your School Music Department
- Star Vocalist Award
- Specialist Instrument Award
- Rockstar Styles Award
- Killer Guitarist Award
- Rock-solid Bassist Award
- Rocking Drummer Award
- Outstanding Keyboardist Award
We record the National winners! You will be competing for a prize package from The Rockshop at each final for your school music department.
Here are a couple of rules and regulations that help keep everyone happy and the show on the road.
All contestants must be enrolled in Intermediate, Area, Primary, Preparatory or Correspondence school, and must be no older than (school) year 8.
All parts, vocal and instrumental, must be performed live! Performances at the events must not exceed 6 minutes in duration - this is usually two songs.
Rockshop Bandquest is for unsigned bands only.
You cannot enter if any members of the band have signed a recording or management contract.
You also cannot continue in the competition if any members sign a recording or management contract, without the prior written
approval of Rockquest Promotions Ltd.
Toi is a Wearable Art competition for student designers run in collaboration with World of WearableArt.
Students can exhibit their larger than life creations at a live Showquest event around Aotearoa.
This is a simple outline for Toi.
Once you’ve entered, you’ll receive the full Toi Manual.
We are very proud to be working in collaboration with our friends at World of Wearable Art to integrate a different component of the performing arts into our programme. WOW have helped us shape this platform and supply the judges each year. In 2020, each entry was judged by Dame Suzie Moncrieff (WOW Founder) and Heather Palmer (WOW Competition Director).
All entrants must be enrolled in an NZ school (including home school and correspondence school). Each student may only enter one entry and up to 5 students can work collaboratively on a garment. Students working together on a garment must be from the same school. Senior students (y9-13) can enter Toi independently, even if your school is not involved - get in touch!
Teachers and parents are not permitted to contribute to the design or creation of the garment above and beyond acceptable health & safety measures. E.g. helping with a hot glue gun or assisting in cutting tricky materials.
You can choose to be inspired by one of our three design briefs created with WOW: Aotearoa, Futuristic and Excessive Accessories. Let your mind run wild when interpreting these briefs - you can be as literal, wacky or fantastical as you like! If you have an amazing idea that doesn’t fit into these themes, you can also choose to design to our Open brief.
There is a cost of $10 per student for the Wearable Art programme with a maximum of $50 per garment. This entry free enables us to produce amazing shows for your community, friends & whānau to support you showcasing your garment live on stage!
Student designers will have professional photos taken of their creation on their model at a Showquest event. Our judges from WOW will use these photographs to judge nationally. You will also need to write a garment description and title for your creation, explaining your interpretation of your chosen Design Brief. You can also choose to enter our additional Creative Photo Challenge by taking a magazine-style cover photo of you striking a pose!
Although Toi is primarily about participation,
there will be awards presented for the categories below.
OnScreen is brand new for 2020 and is a short-film competition open to all high school students around New Zealand!
This is a simple outline for OnScreen.
Once you’ve entered, you’ll receive the full OnScreen Manual.
All participants must be enrolled in an NZ school (including home school and correspondence school). Schools may submit multiple entries, however students may only take part in one entry each.
Entry crew numbers are a maximum of 30 with no minimum number. Entrants must all attend the same school. All entries must have a student director.
OnScreen has an entry cost of $30 per entry, which covers the entire crew of 1-30 (including cast & technical crew). This entry free enables us to run free-to-access masterclasses with industry experts, provide entrants with industry expert judges, create mentoring opportunities and create a digital showcase for friends & whānau.
For the exciting first run of OnScreen, we have created film briefs for filmmakers to be inspired by. These briefs are intentionally thematic (not genre-based) and open to a wide array of interpretations. You can pick any one of the briefs and let you imagination run wild!
OnScreen does not allow any commercial music to be used in your film. You still have a number of options to incorporate music and sound effects though! You can source royalty-free music or audio, create original music or devise a scripted narrative performance with no music.
Think like Peter Jackson and use on-location filming to take your production to the next level. Film a school scene in a classroom, a dramatic scene on an overcast beach, film the sunset or clouds moving across the sky or rig up a green screen - your options are endless!
This is just as important in a short film as it is for our performers in the Showquest live events. Think about your characters and how to develop them with effective costuming, hair & make-up.
One of the biggest elements of OnScreen will be how you decide to edit your footage to create your final film. You can really get creative here. with editing effects, digital effects and filters, sound effects and camera cuts. Some great programs to start with are iMovie, Premiere Pro & Windows Movie Maker.
You'll be required to upload your final edit on the website by the due date. We will then upload all films to our platform and create a free digital show to share with your community, friends & whānau.
We will create a Digital Showcase from submitted videos. These will be available online to watch at the completion of the competition. This will allow all schools. students and the public to watch each other's performances. The winners of each regional show will then go head to head in the National Final.
We have put together an NCEA E Book on how you can earn credits in our OnScreen, Wearable Art & Showquest programmes. That'll be released shortly under 'Resources'. Keep an eye out!
All practical means must be taken to ensure people are kept safe while creating this entry. If Covid-19 alert levels are in place, all gathering restrictions and requirements must be diligently followed. It is your responsibility to make sure your performance operates in a manner that doesn't jeopardise people's wellbeing and safety.
Although Showquest is primarily about participation,
there will be awards for both the Junior & Open Sections.
We are extremely grateful for our wonderful sponsors.
Without them, Rockshop Bandquest would not be possible.
EHARA KOE I A IA!