The First Is Melbourne's Latest New Year's Day Electronica Festival

Overview

Melburnians will have two outdoor electronica festivals to choose from come January 1, 2019. This year, joining Werribee Park's Let Them Eat Cake is Sidney Myer Music Bowl's The First — a multi-stage music festival dedicated to live electronic, hip hop, house and techno that'll take over the Kings Domain this New Year's Day.

Run by Montreal-based festival host Piknic Électronik and Australia's electronic music guru Hardware Group, the festival is a hangover party you don't need to travel out of town for. Among the festival's stages is one dedicated to Piknic Électronic and it'll kick off the brand's fifth season of weekly-mini festivals in Melbourne (the dates of which have not yet been released).

The headliners for the inaugural NYD festival include heavy-hitting rap queen M.I.A, Australian dance royalty The Presets and New York hip-hop artist Action Bronson, along with Banoffee, Bloody Mary, Bob Moses, KiNK, Krystal Klear, Max Cooper, Nastia and SG Lewis. The full lineup of local and international acts hasn't been announced just yet, so stay tuned for more. While you're there, visual art, food trucks and booze-a-plenty will be on the docket, too.

The First will be held on January 1, 2019 at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Early access tickets will be available from Wednesday, September 12 and cost $99. To register for pre-sale, head over here. General tickets will then go on sale from Thursday, September 13, with VIP tickets priced at $150.