Secret Garden 2013 Announces Line-Up (Not That It Needs To)

Where bigger festivals rely mostly on a precise combo of big name international acts plus Pitchfork-approved indies, the Secret Garden sells out each year before its line-up is even announced.

How you do that in today's musical climate is pretty astounding, until you look at what else the Secret Garden has to offer, at which point it becomes astoundingly obvious. Free booze, a magical farmland location revealed only to ticket-holders, and bands so close you can smell them all provide good reasons to get your unicorn onesie covered in glittery mud. And the food doesn't suck.

"We are pretty different to what's out there," says festival director Clare Downes. "We are completely focussed, almost anal, about putting on a brilliant event. This includes lots of small creative areas, luxury camping facilities, great bars, brilliant music, award-winning food, interactive stuff and surprises. Gardeners love our surprises!"

But that's not to say the music isn't a big draw card. This year the organisers have pulled together another excellent slew of bands and DJs that read like a cross-section of rising and risen local talent. PVT-approved Sydney duo Collarbones will make an appearance alongside Cub Scouts and The Griswolds, with The Preatures adding some artful gloom to the glitter. Rounding out the first line-up announcement are Alison Wonderland, DCUP, the Delta Riggs, Frames, Lancelot, Rufus, Spit Syndicate, Vance Joy, and Softwar and Slowball presenting Secret Garden After Hours.

Secret Garden is also not a bratwurst in a bun sort of occasion. This year the festival is embracing Sydney's fleet of food trucks, with Eat Art Truck (headed by Stuart Magill of Tetsuya's and Brenton Balicki of Quay), Mexican masters Al Carbon, Tsuru's pan-Asian street food, and Jafe Jaffles confirmed to be in attendance, while Porch & Parlour takes care of breakfast. Knowing that the dinner table is the heart of the family and new dining experiences the soul of Sydney, organisers have also lined up a Secret Garden Banquet. Limited tickets are available for the feast, which will be held in heritage-listed stables in a secret area of the already secret location, and hosted, of course, by a secret group of foodies.

The final component of today's announcement is no minor detail; it's the Friday theme, a greatly cherished part of the festivities. In 2013 Secret Garden is extending the hand of friendship to the scene perhaps best known for cosplay, the sci-fi convention, with Secret Garcon. For all those festivalgoers who'd feel outgeeked at Comic Con but have always wanted to dress up as their favourite Star Wars/Mass Effect/Ghostbusters character, this is for you.

As Downes says, "Secret Garden is the kind of festival where you can dress as a pineapple, talk to the guy standing next to you, dabble in some karaoke, send a postcard to your mum and listen to some great bands. There are so many elements to it, beyond what happens on the stage and what we serve at the bars." It all comes together to create an immaculately tailored weekend away that you don't have to plan a thing for.

Tickets for Secret Garden 2013 have sold out, but the festival is run entirely by volunteers, and it's not too late to become one of those. In exchange for four hours of work on the day, you can then run free at the venue. Secret Garden is run as a not-for-profit, with all proceeds going to the Sarah Hilt Foundation, which helps sufferers of meningococcal disease. Just another thing that separates this festival from the rest.

By Hannah Ongley and Rima Sabina Aouf.