Meet Australia's New Americana Camping Festival

Take your partner by the hand and head for Dashville Skyline.
Shannon Connellan
April 23, 2015

Australia's obsession with Americana is going one step further, there's a brand new music festival on the New South Wales calendar. Wonderfully dubbed Dashville Skyline, the brand new camping festival is being touted as a two-day ode to American music — locked in for the October 3-4 long weekend, 2015.

Who's behind this brand spanking new jaunt? The Dashville Skyline team are no spring chickens in the festival game; they're the brains behind hugely successfully niche festivals like The Gum Ball and PigSty in July. After finishing up The Gum Ball last year, the team are bringing the tunes back to the festival-ready Johnston family property in Dashville, Lower Belford in New South Wales — the bush-surrounded site of their previous festivals.

the-gum-ball

Americana-influenced tunes will be the footstomping music of choice over the two days at Dashville — much like the recently successful Out on the Weekend festival. While the lineup has yet to be announced, the festival website describes the music as "born out of fondness for the Golden era that began in the USA in the late '60s, early '70s... a festival of Americana, psychedelia and alternative country music." Think contemporary music influenced by Bob Dylan, The Band, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and The Grateful Dead. There'll be both Australian and international artists on the bill, with each given a special project ahead of their Dashville set.

To shake things up, the Dashville team are creating a shortlist of twenty of the era's greatest songs. Bands and artists will be asked to choose a song from this list and incorporate a cover version into their performance. The covers will be recorded live at the festival and gifted to all attendees at the conclusion of the weekend event as a super Dashville Skyline compilation. What a bloody great festival souvenir.

There'll be Americana-themed food and booze on hand to complete the US-inspired sensory experience, and you'll be able to BYO in the campground (not inside the festival of course). It's all ages, and full weekend and individual day tickets with camption options for on either night will be available.

Here's the site during The Gum Ball, to get an idea of your surrounds.

Dashville Skyline runs over October 3 and 4 at Dashville, Lower Belford. For more information head over here.

Published on April 23, 2015 by Shannon Connellan
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