UPDATE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19: Live at the Bowl's extended lineup has been announced. On top of all the acts below, you can now catch the like of Ball Park Music and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard performing as part of the Summer Sounds series alongside Piknic Electronik, The Cat Empire, The Avalanches and many more. Check out the full event schedule via Live at the Bowl.

When the warm weather rolls around each year, Melburnians usually have multiple reasons to head to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. For those feeling festive, it's where Carols by Candlelight is held. And for anyone keen on catching orchestral shows under the evening sky, it's where the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has held its free summer series for decades.

Come 2021, the iconic venue will also play host to a new event: Live at the Bowl. It's a response to this past chaotic year, with holding a COVID-safe summer festival its number-one aim. Well, that and giving the city's residents something fun to add to their calendars after 2020's struggles.

Live at the Bowl will run from Friday, January 8–Friday, April 23 and will feature more than 40 performances. The eclectic lineup is stacked with local talent from different eras and genres including Missy Higgins, Lime Cordiale, Daryl Braithwaite, Sampa the Great and Birds of Tokyo performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. If you're looking to laugh, Emmy Award-winner Hannah Gadsby is also heading up a night of comedy alongside Zoë Coombs Marr.

It'll be a socially distanced affair, obviously, which the renders of the event illustrate — including separate platforms that split the audience up into groups, as festivals overseas have already been using.

Tickets are on sale Wednesday, December 16 via Ticketek. Check out the full program below and find out more via Live at the Bowl.

LIVE AT THE BOWL LINEUP

Spinifex Gum — Friday, January 8
Human Nature — Saturday, January 9
Piknic Électronik — Sunday, January 10
A Symphonic Celebration — Thursday, January 14
Soju Gang presents SorBaes — Friday, January 15
Mo'Ju with Orchestra Victoria — Saturday, January 16
Teeny Tiny Stevies — Sunday, January 17
Ocean Alley — Thursday, January 21
Birds of Tokyo with the MSO — Friday, January 22
Share the Spirit 2021 — Tuesday, January 26
Missy Higgins — Wednesday, January 27
2021 Sidney Myer Free Concerts — Friday, January 29, Saturday, February 6 and Wednesday, February 10
Sun Cycle — Saturday, January 30
Lime Cordiale — Thursday, February 4
Running Touch — Friday, February 5
Rock the Bowl with Jon Stevens, Daryl Braithwaite and The Black Sorrows — Friday, February 12
Chinese New Year — Saturday, February 13
Vika & Linda — Sunday, February 14
Hannah Gadsby — Wednesday, February 17
Sampa the Great — Saturday, March 13
No Friend But the Mountains — Sunday, March 21

Top Image: Piknic Électronik by Wade Malligan