Australia

BIGSOUND

www.bigsound.org.auBrisbane, QLD

For 3 days every September, a vibrant collection of musicians, buyers and experts from across the globe assemble in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley to explore the challenges of the ever-evolving music industry and experience the next wave of music from Australia and beyond.

By day, BIGSOUND’s conference program features internationally significant keynote speakers and challenging, cutting-edge workshop topics. At night, delegates mix with Brisbane’s music-loving public in a 14-venue experience of live music discovery.

Falls Festival

www.FallsFestival.com.auLorne, VIC - Marion Bay, TAS - Byron Bay, NSW

The reigning king of New Year’s Eve festivals, the Falls Festival has become a very important event on the Australian music calendar.

The event sees multiple sets of lineups perform simultaneously in Victoria and Tasmania – and now New South Wales. Tickets (especially for Lorne) are notoriously difficult to get your hands on — but it’s always well worth it.

Choosing between the two sites usually sees the masses gravitate to Lorne, but the Marion Bay campsite has absolutely stunning placement overlooking the water…perfect for summer.

Meridith Music Festival

www.mmf.com.auMeridith, VIC

The Meredith Music Festival is a three-day outdoor music festival held every December at the “Supernatural Amphitheatre”, a natural amphitheatre located on private farmland near the town of Meredith in Victoria, Australia.

Founded in 1991, sometimes it seems curated like an art exhibition – but it’s a credible music mecca. Famously articulating their three rules as, “No glass, no bean bags, no dickheads,” the festival is one of the oldest in the country. This is definitely one for the more discerning festival-goer.

Festival alumni include: Steve Miller Band, Ghostface Killah, The Lemonheads, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Melvins, Spiritualized, Tame Impala, The New Pornographers, Kid Koala, and Primal Scream.

Queens Cliff Music Festival

www.qmf.net.auQueens Cliff, VIC

QMF came to life through a series of public forums held in 1996 that established community support for the dream… for Queenscliff to host a great music festival.

The “Last Weekend in November” was chosen with the purpose of converting a lull in the tourist season into a peak time for the local tourism industry. This vision is now a reality with QMF recognized as one of Tourism Victoria’s honoured Hall of Fame inductees as well as nominated as an official Regional Victorian Hallmark Event.

The event has also risen to national prominence, evidenced by the Australian Tourism title of “Most Significant Festival and Event”.

Stereosonic

http://stereosonic.com.au/Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane

Stereosonic is an annual music festival held in November and early December in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne, Australia. Each event attracts tens of thousands of festival-goers.

The festival features electronic artists that have dominated music, radio and streaming charts across the globe. The line-up is curated to meet the tastes of various types of electronic music fans, with the introduction of arenas to create genre-specific environments.

Melbourne International Jazz Festival

http://melbournejazz.com/Melbourne, VIC

The Melbourne International Jazz Festival is an annual, world-class jazz festival first held in 1998. The Festival takes place in concert halls, arts venues, jazz clubs and throughout the streets of Melbourne as the city comes alive with the spirit of jazz.

In addition to performances by headline Australian and international artists, the wide-ranging program also includes free concerts, family events, late night art parties, artist workshops, film screenings, in conversations, and club sessions.

Festival alumni include: James ‘Blood’ Ulmer, Chick Corea & Gary Burton, Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen, Herbie Hancock, Joshua Redman, Paul Grabowsky, John Abercrombie, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra Arkestra, Ron Carter, McCoy Tyner, and Simon Phillips.

Splendour in the Grass

www.splendourinthegrass.comByron Bay, NSW

Held annually since 2001, Splendour In the Grass is a music, arts and culture event featuring the latest and best in music from Australia and overseas, local arts and crafts, and cuisine.

After 12 years, the Indie rock, hip hop, electronic, alternative music festival finally has a brand new, permanent home at North Byron Parklands. The Parklands site offers a stunning, natural amphitheatre, surrounded by 660 acres of rolling green hills just 20 minutes north of Byron Bay.

Festival alumni include: Blur, Florence and the Machine, Mark Ronson, Mumford and Sons, Of Monsters and Men, Passion Pit, Kanye West, Coldplay, Bloc Party, and The Smashing Pumpkins.

Rainbow Serpent Festival

www.rainbowserpent.netLexton, VIC

The Rainbow Serpent Festival is a huge electronic music, art and lifestyle festival, located in Victoria, Australia. The festival is mainly known for Psychedelic trance and Minimal Techno music, but also features other genres of electronic music and non electronic music in the smaller stages.

The festival also has many art installations, workshops and other attractions. Recent years have seen the festival expand from a purely music-driven event, to one that places an emphasis on sustainability, well-being, performance and art.

The name Rainbow Serpent is distinctly Australian, coming from the Dreamtime creation story told by the traditional owners of the land. The Rainbow Serpent is protector of the land, and the source of all life.

Byron Bay Bluesfest

www.bluesfest.com.auByron Bay, NSW

The Byron Bay Bluesfest (formerly the East Coast International Blues & Roots Music Festival) is an annual music festival held over the Easter long weekend at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, near Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

Bluesfest presents over 200 performances with up to 7 stages over 5, 12 hour days, as well as camping for up to 6,000 people, 5 licensed bars, over 100 food and market stalls, undercover food courts, beer gardens, and children’s entertainment.

Festival alumni include: Bob Dylan, B. B. King, Grace Jones, Ben Harper, Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Leon Russell, George Clinton, Trombone Shorty, Jimmy Cliff, Robert Plant, The Cat Empire, City and Colour, Bob Dylan, Ben Harper, Earth Wind & Fire and Santana.

Beyond The Valley

www.beyondthevalley.com.auLardner, VIC

With a lineup of indie-rock, electronica, hip-hop and indie-dance, this new festival offers the perfect Australian landscape for a premiere music and camping event. Award-winning food vendors bring choice and quality to rival any music festival in the world.

90 minutes east of Melbourne, festival site consists of spacious green fields surrounding a central lake, all encapsulated by hills rolling on into the distance.

Beyond The Valley’s widescreen sound is all about reflecting the ambient power of the festival’s beautiful environment.

St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival

www.lanewayfestival.comMelbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Fremantle, Sydney, Australia

St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival is about leading new and revered seminal music. The festival has always been interested in finding what’s fresh and bringing it to unique settings and surrounds to be appreciated by music lovers.

What started as a series of weekly shows at a tiny Melbourne bar has bloomed into one of Australia’s most beloved festival institutions. Across a decade of expansion that has seen the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival become an international signifier of essential music, the event continues to showcase its original set of values: championing community, fostering collaboration, encouraging self-expression, and finding ongoing excuses to have fun.

And now – not just one, but eight festivals including Auckland, Singapore, and Detroit!

Festival alumni include: Beach House, Chvrches, Hudson Mohawk, St Vincent, Angel Olsen, Banks, Lorde, CHVRCHES, HAIM, Japandroids, Echo & the Bunnymen, Bat For Lashes, Blonde Redhead, Divine Fits and El-P.