Overview
Back in 2020, which now seems a lifetime ago, Laneway Festival celebrated 15 years since Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio first decided to fill a Melbourne alleyway with tunes. The beloved fest marked that milestone with a characteristically jam-packed lineup that made its way to Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Fremantle, as well as Auckland — but since then, it's been quiet thanks to the pandemic.
First, the bad news: no one will be raising a plastic cup at the fest in 2022, Laneway organisers have confirmed. Now, the great news: the event is gearing up to finally make a comeback in 2023.
In a social media announcement, the Laneway crew noted that right now it'd usually "be sailing the Laneway cruise liner into Australia/NZ, docking at Adelaide." That's clearly not happening at the moment, and "for obvious reasons we have decided to sit out again this year but rest assured, we are busy bees preparing for Laneway '23," the post continued.
Dates, cities and venues for 2023 haven't been announced yet, but the Laneway team also noted that they're quite advanced in the planning for next year.
"It's unusual for us to have booked so many acts so early on but that is what we can confirm we have done for Laneway 23, and it's already feeling like one of those very special Laneway lineups... there are so many exciting ideas and dreams coming into the picture and we look forward to sharing them with you into the new normal," organisers revealed.
If you're now already looking forward to next year, that's understandable. If you're now speculating on who might be on the bill, that's perfectly natural, too.
Laneway's news comes after restrictions eased in both New South Wales and Victoria on Friday, February 18, allowing dancing again — with NSW's ban on dancing at music festivals set to lift this week as well.
Laneway Festival will return in 2023. We'll update you with further details, including dates, venues and lineups, when they're announced.
Top image: Anthony Smith.