10 Australian Music Festivals to Experience Before you Die
Summer is finally here and we couldn’t be more excited. To us it means long hot days, beers in the sun, tees and shorts and tanks. Nothing but beach hangs, bike rides, road trips, amazing tunes and… FESTIVALS!
We've previously done a post no UK festivals but we wanted to do a bit of a shout out to out to our mates down under who boast some of the most amazing festivals in the world.
We love a good festival. You get to don your party pants and dance your face off for a day or three. You completely loose yourself, and sometimes your mates! It’s your chance to let the real world go for a few days and gain a new appreciation for music, nature, your fellow humans and some crazy-ass fashion.
If you’ve never been to a music festival you have simply not lived. You need to start working your way through this list starting this year.
With that in mind, here is our list of 10 music festivals you must experience before you die.
Enjoy!
Set at the foot of the incredible Grampians, on the outskirts of the quaint Victorian town of Mafeking, Pitch Music & Arts is a four day epic. This BYO festival is an electro dream. Multiple stages, amazing chill out zones and the most incredible bush sunsets. Returning in March of 2019 for only the third time and running from Friday 8th – Monday 11th this festival will transport you to another world. The guys have started releasing the line up with the likes of Avalon Emerson, David August, Daniel Avery and many more to come. Keep an eye on their FB page for more announcements and for when tix go on sale. We’ll see you in the paddock.
St Jerome’s Laneway Festival has revealed the highly anticipated lineup for its 15th birthday next year. The usual cities will be treated to a gob-smacking day of music in February 2019. The big headline act is Sydney indie rock group Gang Of Youths along with Courtney Barnett, Rex Orange County, Methyl Ethel, Middle Kids, Jorja Smith, What So Not, Denzel Curry, Parquet Courts and heaps more. Organisers have recently announced the festival is moving to a new venue in Melbourne next year, moving away from its home of nine years at the Footscray Community Arts Centre. Elsewhere, the event will return to Brisbane Showgrounds, SCA and Callan Park in Sydney, Hart’s Mill in Port Adelaide and Fremantle’s Esplanade Reserve and West End. This one day rager has solidified itself as one of the best days of the year and we cannot wait.
Back for its 22nd instalment in 2019, Rainbow Serpent Festival (25-28 January) has a monster line-up with 26 international acts headlined by psy-trance beast; 3 Of Life. Rainbow Serpent Festival's music has significantly evolved over the years. Starting out as a mainly psytrance focused festival over two decades ago, these days patrons can expect to submerge themselves in a melting pot of musicality over the long weekend. With well over 100 producers, bands and DJ’s across a number of separate stages Rainbow showcases an eclectic mix of grooves, atmospheres and rhythms. From techy grooves, deep progressive styling, to the phat wobble bass of glitch-hop and unique hybrid electronic manipulations, Rainbow spares no effort to bring you the very best of the best of international and Australian talent. Also appearing at the 2019 event will be Altruism, Atacama, BEC, BLANCah and the renowned US downbeat artist, Bluetech alongside his countryman Christopher Lawrence.
Victoria’s darling of the festival scene has to be Meredith Music Festival. Tickets to this intimate beauty are through a ballot system and if you’re lucky enough to win the chance to buy a ticket you will be treated to a wondrous weekend of tunes, food and some of the craziest costumes we’ve ever seen. This year’s Meredith lineup features the likes of American alt-rockers The Breeders, singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, dance icons The Presets, Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, psych rockers Pond and rising talent Sampa The Great.
The 28th edition of Aunty Meredith’s supernatural shindig will return to the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre between Friday, 7th and Sunday, 9th December.
Meredith organisers are, as always promising a free-range, BYO, one-stage, No Dickhead and sponsor-free event in 2018. We have our tickets and hope to see you there.
Same location and same fantastic organizers as Meredith, this iconic festival is serving us up The Internet, Scottish alt-rock legends The Jesus and Mary Chain, US dream-pop duo Beach House, UK electro lord Four Tet, 80’s psych pop legends Happy Mondays, NZ singer-songwriter Marlon Williams and loads more. Local bands include the mad-as-hell Confidence Man, Hatchie, Magic Dirt and plenty of others! As always, Golden Plains remains BYO and independent, with no commercial sponsors and just one stage. That means you park on the hill and don’t miss a beat.
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Woodford Folk Festival
From Boxing Day to New Years Day, for 7 days of bliss this festival delivers the absolute best and most diverse music in the world. From world, to folk, to rock, and everything in-between The Woodford Folk Festival is one of the most amazing things you could ever do. Loose yourself in the narrow laneways lined with market stalls and eat food form the best vendors the country has to offer.
Come for the day or stay for the whole week, either way you will be touched by this magical beauty and all she has to offer you. This festival is amazing for families and people of all ages.
Celebrating a massive 26 years, the Falls Festival has revealed its line-up for summer.
You'll be partying this New Year's in Lorne, Marion Bay, Byron Bay, and Fremantle with Catfish and The Bottlemen, CHVRCHES, Vance Joy, Hilltop Hoods, and Anderson Paak & The Free Nationals. You've also got Amy Shark, Flight Facilities, Hockey Dad and TOTO!!
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Splendour in the Grass
A festival of truely EPIC proportions Splendour in the Grass is a 3 day beast set in the beautiful North Byron Parklands. Splendour sells upwards of 30,000 tickets so if you don’t like crowds this one might not be for you. If you love a boogie with literally thousands of like-minded party people then get your tickets if you can. This guy sells out in minutes and for good reason. Splendour hosts some of the biggest names in the world. Next years line-up is yet to be announced but keep an eye out because when it drops the world will stop.
Strawberry Fields is turning 10 this year and they’ve just unveiled a juicy AF lineup to celebrate.
The 2018 instalment of the fruity fest will feature performances from dancefloor experimentalist and top Detroit techno producer Carl Craig in the headliner slot, alongside fellow US acts Hoj, Lonely C of Boston’s DJ and production duo Soul Clap, Oona Dah, Oakland Americana group Dirtwire, previously announced Chicago artist Honey Dijon and just so many more. Strawberry Fields 2018 will hit the banks of the Murray River in NSW’s Tocumwal, from November 16-18.
St Kilda Fest. Is Australia’s largest free music festival. With mostly local favorites playing across seven stages, the crowds often surpass 400,000 people on the one day event.
Next year will be The 39th annual event which is the jewel of the summer calendar for party loving Melbournites. In addition to the music St Kilda Fest. will also feature food trucks, market stalls, a dedicated Kidzone, carnival rides, fashion stalls and more…and it’s free!
