Festival season is potentially the most exciting and FOMO-inducing time of the year. We’ve seen our festival run turn from massive events where you’re surrounded by tens of thousands of people – which can get a touch overwhelming – to a massive rise in smaller scale, boutique festivals.
They’re more niche, cater to a more particular group of music-loving humans, and are restricted to a smaller crowd. Meaning there’s more opportunity to curate the festival crowd (less dickheads, yay!) and create a space that isn’t as daunting as the claustrophobic feeling of being packed in like sardines with squillions of other sweaty people.
We rallied around and picked out some of our fave Aussie boutique festivals to chuck on your bucket list ASAP, because they’re all pretty bloody fun.
Fairgrounds – Berry, NSW
Part music festival, part giant primary school fête, Fairgrounds has been running in December in the NSW South Coast town of Berry for the last three years.
The fest brings in international acts like Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ratatat, Father John Misty, Angel Olsen, and Noname, as well as a bunch of local artists, while also providing lots of fun stuff for the little ones – oh and they open up the local pool so you can go for a dip.
Think big music acts, but also you can play quoits and enter into a sack race. It’s good. It’s fun. It’s wholesome as hell.
Berry also has some of the best-ever doughnuts in the whole world, so that’s a bonus too.
Party In The Paddock – White Hills, TAS
Full of costumes, good vibes, and nude butts, Tassie‘s Party In The Paddock is a weekend in the southernmost state’s rolling greenery.
The fezzy is a heavy dose of Aussie music with a couple of overseas friends mixed in, and focuses on being a really positive three-day sleepover full of good mates having a great time.
Plus getting off the mainland for a bit is always a good idea.
UNIFY – Gippsland, VIC
If you like your music a little heavier, and need to fill the void that Soundwave Festival (RIP) left behind, then UNIFY is your best bet. A weekender full of so much headbanging that you might need to pre-emptively book in with a physio, the Gippsland area in Victoria routinely gets bombarded with punk fans keen to spend some quality time in the country punching the ground so hard the Earth’s mantle cracks.
A festival we’re extremely keen to see be more inclusive with its lineups, Unify is a solid weekend away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and into the pit.
Mountain Sounds – Somersby, NSW
Carrying on the summer festivals through into the sticky February heat, NSW‘s Central Coast comes alive with the fun and frivolity of Mountain Sounds – where dressing up is encouraged, and a posi attitude is mandatory.
Bringing along a bunch of party players (Peking Duk is this year’s secret headliner), Mountain Sounds is just far enough away from the big smoke that you’ll well and truly let your hair down.
Fidelity Festival – Perth, WA
Flicking over the the West Coast for a moment, the new festival that’s cropped up where the sun sets over the ocean is Fidelity Festival.
2017 was it’s first year in the biz, and it brought out the big guns for the event; Alt-J, Future Islands, and The Shins. Painted against a gorgeous backdrop, it makes me almost want to drop a solid amount of dosh to fly over to Perth.
Ah, how’s the serenity?
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc4U7v7DLDh/
MONA FOMA / DARK MOFO – Hobart, TAS
If you’re more into something extremely off-the-wall quirky, then MONA FOMA, and it’s mid-winter sibling DARM MOFO is where you wanna be.
Twice a year, Tassie turns into a buzzing hub of serious weirdness, with art installations, music performances, and all sorts of wildly grouse characters crawling out from all the dark and eerie cracks and crevices.
Secret Garden – Orangeville, NSW
South-West Sydney‘s hidden away festival full of delightful treats and tricks is Secret Garden. You know how costumes are a cute idea at some festivals? Well they’re pretty much mandatory at Secret Garden.
Like falling down a rabbit hole and landing in a brightly-coloured Wonderland, the Garden leaves no space of the forest devoid of magic and little secrets.
There’s a big feast, themed party nights, and little raves that you might stumble upon at 2am when you thought everyone was in bed asleep. This is a must-have on your festival bucket list, because there sure as shit ain’t anything else like it in Aus.
Maroochy – Sunshine Coast, QLD
Up in the hot hot heat of Queensland‘s Sunshine Coast is Maroochy Music & Vis Arts Festival (MMVAF). Spread right across the CBD of Maroochydore, the fest celebrates creativity and art, with a range of music, street art, food, and all sorts of other treats.
With a strict ‘No Dickheads’ policy – much like all of these festivals – MMVAF is getting stronger year after year, though I fear it’s going to be hard to top 2017’s inclusion of The Presets and Bernard Fanning.
Beyond The Valley – Lardner, VIC
Celebrating New Years is a perfect reason to get away and into a big ol’ party in a meadow. Camping, art, and international music guests are all on offer at Beyond The Valley, bringing you kicking and screaming into the new year. Hell, start Jan 1st off with some morning yoga because new year, new you and all that.
They’ve played host to Stormzy, Chance The Rapper and Mura Masa in the past, and although the fest is still a wee bab, it’s going from strength to strength.
Spend this year preparing your doof stick for the next instalment of BTV.
BIGSOUND – Fortitude Valley, QLD
Have you heard of a little thing called South By Southwest? No? Well it’s a ha-yuge music conference/sprawling festival/conference/takeover in Austin, Texas and BIGSOUND makes me think of SXSW, but Aussie.
A week-long Aus music extravaganza in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, featuring showcases from all sorts of smaller Aussie labels, panels and talks from people deep in the music biz, and a bunch of free gigs across the city’s nightlife hotspot.
