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Your Ultimate Guide To Festivals

July 09, 2019

If there’s one thing our friends at Wrangler Australia love, it’s live music, especially when its mixed with stomping around in a field with your best mates and a bunch of strangers whilst covered in dust, eating from food trucks and most of your day spent juggling your favourite acts, toilet lines and figuring out whose turn it is to shout drinks.

Their mission is to ensure this culture lives on well into the future so we linked up with the team to give you a heads up on some of our faves. If you’re wondering which festivals to hit up this year - get your calendars out, here’s your guide!

Photo credit: @shaantixx

JANUARY: GROW YOUR OWN- FORSTER, NSW

This baby was founded in 2016 by the ever-inspiring wonder woman, Forster local - Holly Rankin AKA Jack River. Held in Forster-Tuncurry on NSW’s stunning Mid-North Coast, Grow Your Own is a music and produce festival that celebrates home-grown Aussie talent and produce, bringing national musicians to their regional fans.

They value all things home-grown and strive to celebrate this mindset through all aspects of the event through grit-fuelled music, indigenous story, art and dance, and locally grown food. They celebrate artists, stories and brands that are pushing a vision of change; of ‘doing it your own way’ with sustainability and nonconformity. The 2020 line-up is coming in August we hear! Watch this space!

FEBRUARY: LANEWAY FESTIVAL- AUSTRALIA WIDE

Laneway Festival has you covered no matter what city you live near! This one has been around for a little while now and never disappoints offering you a location that’s close to the city centre, and something a bit different to the usual festival set up with its endless laneways full of sweaty groovers. It’s the perfect way to end your summer, they always have a bold selection of diverse contemporary icons and emerging game-changers!

Photo credit: Dane Singleton

MARCH: GOLDEN PLAINS- MEREDITH, VIC

This is a special one that’s close to our hearts. Held over the Labour Day weekend in March so the weather is stable and it’s that time of year you need one last hurrah to say good bye to the warmer weather. It’s situated at the stunning Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre just an hour out of Melbourne, which is surrounded by rolling green hills and beautiful big gum trees (the same location as elder sibling Meredith Music Festival) though kept smaller – so there’s plenty of space to play and ques are not issue- game changer!

There’s also no commercial sponsors, or signage on site, no market stalls, and nothing being marketed to you for the whole long weekend- basically a haven! You camp wherever you like, and bring almost everything and anything if you want – you can even bring a couch to place within the amphitheatre! Renowned for its good vibes, smiling faces and an eclectic line-up of acts from rock to electronic to suit those of nearly any age!

APRIL: BLUESFEST- BYRON BAY NSW

Australia’s largest festival of blues and roots music held for 5 days over Easter at the epic Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, just north of Byron Bay. It can always be relied upon for its awe-inspiring line-up of musical legends, big name internationals and talented locals- it hosts around 200 performances over the festivals entirety!

Photo credit: @lagooncollective3

MAY: BIG PINEAPPLE FESTIVAL- WOOMBYE, QLD

Located up on the beautiful Sunny Coast, this one is big and unique! It’s a colourful day of pumping music from the worlds of rock, indie, hip-hop and dance hosted on the hilly grounds surrounding the iconic Big Pineapple! There’s something for everyone here and although it sells out to capacity at 16,000 pax there’s still plenty of room to groove!

Photo credit: Wrangler

JUNE: DARK MOFO- HOBART, TASMANIA

An intoxicating fortnight that’s spent celebrating public art, food, film, music, light and noise- the perfect way to kick off winter. Some highlights include the Winter Feast, the ogoh-ogoh parade, and the annual Nude Solstice Swim.

JULY: SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS- BYRON BAY, NSW

The festival of all festivals! Located in a contemporary outdoor space encased in beautiful big trees just out of Byron. It’s pretty safe to say this is Australia’s biggest- known for its muddy hills just as much as its known for its huge array of top national and international artists and its many, many stages (time to get those steps up!) We highly recommend using their app to schedule your time so you don’t miss seeing your faves & get Find my Friend app to avoid losing your friend or yourself!

Photo credit: @jessgleeson / @grystphoto

AUGUST: REST!

Ok, give us a break- we’re sitting this month out to regroup! It’s only fair that after SITG stint you’ll be needing a break!

SEPTEMBER: BURNING SEED- MATONG STATE FOREST, NSW

Been wanting to get to Burning Man in the states? Well now you can experience the Australian version with Burning Seed- an experimental gathering dedicated to creativity, collaboration and a cash-free community — conceived, built, run and returned to nothing again by you. People new to Burning Seed often assume that a Burn is like a festival — a mostly passive experience where event producers organise everything and you just need to rock up for the show. Instead, a Burn is created by its participants, not for them. There’s no production company curating it, no sponsors, advertisers or stalls either. There is only you + everyone attending and a gifting economy.

Not your thing? Try Listen Out Festival held in the Catani Gardens in Melbourne’s iconic St Kilda foreshore. This one’s the antidote to many of the things you hate about bigger music festivals! It’s a carefully curated killer line-up of the dance music that matters. Their philosophy is the best, not the biggest. Come here if you don’t want timetable clashes or long hikes between stages!

OCTOBER: YOURS & OWLS FESTIVAL- WOLLONGONG, NSW

Held across two days in between the sea and the cliffs that linger close to the city centre of Wollongong. This one is a fun one to kick start your summer fun a little early! This year’s line-up has been announced and its nothing short of epic with Courtney Barnett, Angie McMahon, Meg Mac, No Mono, Odette and Kira Puru, Slumberjack, Skeggs, Frenzal Rhomb, Ceres, West Thebarton and The Delta Riggs, alongside hip hop stars Baker Boy, Kwame, Thundamentals! And that’s just to mention a few! The grounds are flat and stages close together so your legs won’t pay for it the next day and you’ll unlikely miss any of your faves unless you get carried away at the chips on a stick cart!

Photo credit: Wrangler

NOVEMBER: SPILT MILK- CANBERRA & BALLARAT

This one has already sold out for 2019 so it goes without saying it’s a goodie! With a reputation for pulling together quality line ups that include the perfect mix of both home grown and international artists, they have once again outdone themselves with their 2019 line-up along with also taking the festival to Ballarat which is very exciting for Victorians! Check out the line-up here where you can also jump on the waitlist for tix! Fingers crossed!

DECEMBER: FALLS FESTIVAL- LORNE, MARION BAY, & BYRON BAY

We’re spoilt for choice all year round but December is particularly hard one to choose just one as there’s so many taking place over the NYE period. So we’re going with the most iconic, Falls Festival, you can’t go wrong! It’s one of the best, longest running, boutique music events in Australia. The festival is based on European style events, featuring a star studded line-up with a diverse mix of over 70 renowned bands, DJs and comedians from Australia but also hosting over 20 international acts. It’s a solid choice for bringing in the New Year

Photo credit: Wrangler / Grysto Photo

Your Ultimate Guide To Festivals