Overview
For close to three decades, Falls Festival's Victorian leg saw punters make the annual pilgrimage out to Lorne, to revel in live music at the event's original home on the Surf Coast. But bushfires cancelled Lorne's 2019 festival, and the pandemic squashed plans for both the 2020 and 2021 instalments, before organisers announced in November last year that the Victorian fest would be relocating permanently to Pennyroyal Plains in Murroon.
Now, there's been a big ol' twist and the festival will instead be heading to the city for the first time, with the newly minted Falls Downtown set to descend on Sidney Myer Music Bowl from December 29–31.
Piknic Electronik, by Wade Malligan
The new digs will ensure the show goes on for local music-lovers, after previous relocation plans were faced with permit hiccups. Falls Downtown Melbourne 2022 will feature all of the artists already announced, and run alongside its sibling fests Falls Byron (December 31–January 2) and the new Falls Downtown Fremantle (January 7–8, 2023).
Across two stages, the Melbourne event is set to ring in the new year with sounds from big-name acts like Arctic Monkeys, Lil Nas X, Chvrches, Peggy Gou and Jamie xx, as well as the OG Wiggles. Also making appearances: Genesis Owusu, Ocean Alley, Young Franco and Spacey Jane, plus DMA's, G Flip, Amyl and the Sniffers, King Stingray, Mall Grab and Ben Böhmer. And yes, that's just a tiny taster of the huge lineup.
Falls Festival Lorne
While the new site obviously doesn't allow for camping like its predecessor did, it will indeed be dishing up a suite of off-stage fun to keep you grooving through the three days, including stacks of pop-up bars, food trucks, lifestyle precinct Rancho Relaxo and the VIP sanctuary that is Club Falls.
A fresh batch of tickets to Falls Downtown Melbourne will be on sale from 9am, Wednesday, September 14. Existing Falls Victoria 2022 ticket-holders can apply for a refund if they don't wish to transfer tickets to the new location. All camping passes will be automatically refunded, though if you're keen for a road trip, you've also got the option to exchange yours for camping passes to the fests' Byron leg.
Falls Downtown Melbourne 2022 hits Sidney Myer Music Bowl from December 29–31. Grab tickets online from 9am, September 14.
Top Image: Piknic Electronik at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, by Wade Malligan