All the Major Music Festivals Locked in for 2022 So Far in Victoria
From electronic-fuelled NYD festivals to touring pride celebrations, there's a whole stack of music festival goodness coming in hot next year.
All the Major Music Festivals Locked in for 2022 So Far in Victoria
From electronic-fuelled NYD festivals to touring pride celebrations, there's a whole stack of music festival goodness coming in hot next year.
With multiple lockdowns and ongoing venue restrictions, 2021 has proved to be one big, fat dry spell when it comes to live music and gigs. But if you're itching to get back into the swing of things, 2022 is set to be your year.
The country's top tastemakers and touring companies have been hard at work planning a stack of incoming music festivals; promising to help make up for lost time and get you reacquainted with that joyful pastime of cutting shapes in a crowd while great live acts do their thing.
From New Year's Day celebrations packed full of electronic sounds to a brand-new touring pride festival that's set to knock Australia's socks off, we've rounded up all the most exciting major music festivals coming to your gig calendar in 2022. Dust off those dancing shoes and get ready to make the most of the state's live music comeback.
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This ever-popular one-day French festival is waltzing back to Melbourne’s Werribee Park Mansion on Sunday, February 13. As always, expect a blissful afternoon of French-inspired niceties, including gourmet picnic hampers and offensively good wine — all set to a chill French soundtrack.
Heading the bill is the YÉ-YÉ 2.0 project, which features Australian female artists performing new interpretations of iconic 60s French pop music. Elsewhere, catch Mick Harvey and the Intoxicated Men playing the songs of Serge Gainsbourg, plus French Nigerian singer-rapper Féfé, Melbourne’s Cookin’ on 3 Burners, and DJs Mike Guerreri and Frank Rodi.
Images: Liz Sunshine / Simon Schiff.
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Summer Camp is the country’s newest — and only touring — pride festival, and its debut bill is set to feature a jaw-dropping lineup of queer icons and experiences.
Years & Years, aka British singer and actor Olly Alexander (It’s a Sin), will headline the four-city tour, with The Veronicas, Cub Sport, Confidence Man and Ladyhawke supporting. Kinder, Sycco, The Merindas, Jawbreakers, Yo Mafia and Art Simone will also be taking the stage, with more acts set to be announced.
In addition to live tunes across two stages, there’ll be eats, drinks, dance, performance art and art installations, with more than 200 artists involved in the tour all up.
Image: Years and Years, Theatrepeople via Wikimedia Commons
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The folks at Untitled Group — the same minds behind Beyond the Valley, Pitch Music & Arts and Ability Fest — have revealed a huge all-Aussie lineup for the 2021–22 edition of touring live music series For The Love.
The local instalment hits St Kilda’s Catani Gardens on Saturday, March 5, headlined by festival staples including Dom Dolla, Crooked Colours and Mallrat. Joining them to grace the stage at the waterfront precinct will be favourites like Running Touch and Allday, along with Telanova, Boo Seeka, George Maple and Ebony Boadu. Punters will also have the opportunity to kick back in style in one of For The Love’s VIP lounges, presented by Aussie streetwear label Nana Judy.
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Much-loved electronic music festival Let Them Eat Cake will return to the grounds of Werribee Mansion on New Year’s Day, 2022, showing off an exciting new use of its spaces and promising an even more immersive experience than ever before.
The lineup has a distinct focus on championing local acts, with live shows from Confidence Man, Northeast Party House, Close Counters and Tornado Club. Plus, DJ sets from festival favourites Young Franco, Papa Smurf, Adi Toohey and CC: DISCO!. If that’s not enough, you’ll also find AROHA, Ben Fester, Merve, FOURA, Bella Claxton, Dr Packer, Late Nite Tuff Guy and others setting the dance floor alight.
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For 2021, New Year’s camping festival Beyond the Valley is set to host a special spin-off edition in the heart of the city. Beyond The City will descend on Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Kings Domain Parklands to wrap up the year in style on December 30 and 31.
Expect two jam-packed days of live music and other festivities, with no less than three different stage areas playing host to acts like Pnau, Spacey Jane, Lime Cordiale and Hayden James. Also on the bill, Aussie legends including Boo Seeka, Ball Park Music, Allday, Sycco, Running Touch and stacks more. Best of all, dancing has been given the green light, so you’ll be cutting shapes to all of the above.
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The northside’s legendary open-air party destination Coburg Velodrome will launch into 2022 with the next iteration of Sun Cycle.
The respected music heads at Crown Ruler (Duke Street Block Party, Freedom Time), Untitled Group (Beyond the Valley, Pitch Music & Arts, Ability Fest) and WAT Artists are back to deliver the goods, with a top-notch gathering of local and international acts, plus striking visual installations.
Helping to ring in the year with a bang will be Japanese electronic legend Soichi Terada, along with Chaos in the CBD, Bradley Zero and Roza Terenzi. Briggs and Akosia are also in the mix, alongside other homegrown acts like Sleep D, Tornado Wallace, Jennifer Loveless, Zjoso and Surprise Chef. Visual thrills from the likes of Alchemy Orange, Rhys Newling and Mikaela Stafford will round out the day’s fun.
Images: Natalie Jurrjens
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If nothing says summer to you quite like dancing in a crowd, here’s another event for your calendar: the return of Melbourne’s Boiler Room x Sugar Mountain Festival. It’s coming in hot on Saturday, January 22, 2022, to its brand-new home in Williamtown’s Seaworks Maritime Precinct. Complete with its famed 360-degree stage and a supersized lineup of acts, no less.
Welsh techno producer and singer/songwriter Kelly Lee Owens leads the bill, in what’ll be her first-ever Australian performance — and she’ll be joined by London-based Aussie DJ HAAi, Brisbane Spotify favourite jamesjamesjames, European-based Aussie Lauren Hansom, and locals Darcy Justice, C.FRIM and Bertie.
Top image: Mushroom Creative House.
Top Image: For The Love
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