Port Macquarie’s weekend-long boutique camping and BYO Festival, Festival Of The Sun 2014 has already sold out, and there’s no real question why. Featuring the likes of Violent Soho, The Jezabels, Shihad, Allday, Dune Rats, Jackie Onassis plus so many more on the line up, the organisers have pulled out all the stops to ensure the event’s “biggest year” yet as the must-attend boutique event celebrates its 10th Anniversary.
Along with the music, there’s plenty of fun to be had with FOTSUN’s superhero theme, encouraging ticket-holders to don their best spandex and eye-masks (and probably animal onesies too), offering a prize to the ‘best-dressed kid’ at the festival.
To celebrate the tenth year of FOTS, we chatted with the event organisers Scott Mesiti and Simon Luke about some of their most memorable moments from the past nine years of this incredible fesival.
The Slip n’ Slide
“Simon (Simon Luke, Festival Of The Sun organiser) getting over excited on the first year and rolling out a huge slip and slide across the back of the entertainment area”
(The Beards Playing FOTS)
Loss Of The Festival’s Roof
“The original roof over the stage collapsing overnight during a massive storm, and waking up at 4am to workout how to run the whole second day, which we did with the help of a legend sound team and lots of mates.”
Sarah Blasko’s Stormy Set
“Sarah Blasko on our first year stopping the crowd to point out a beautiful ocean storm in the distance with the moon rising amongst the lightening, it was simply magic.”
(FOTS Crowd)
Port-a-loo Dilemma
“In the second year, Simon’s dad “Dingo” was spotted walking through the backstage area with a fire hose to clean out the blocked porta –loos, teaching all the festival rookies the value in rolling up your sleeves and getting the job done.”
Midnight Beach
“Creating a huge man-made beach in the middle of the night, due to mud in front of the stage, FOTSUNners woke up thinking it was Christmas.”
(Kimbra Performing at FOTS)
Sharon Jones And Co. In Casual Dress
“Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings flight getting redirected to Coffs Harbour due to fog. They just made it on time but without their luggage. The band went on stage in casual attire for the first time in their career. Sharon went on stage, told the story and said “Tonight, you’re gonna get the real me!!”
Spiderbait Blowing The Generators
“The time when Spiderbait pushed the sound and lights so hard, it pushed our generators to the brink and almost cut them out. Huge clouds of smoke were coming out from behind the stage and all the crew thought it was going to cut out. We miraculously got through it and obviously got a bigger generator the following year.”
(Sharon Jones in her casuals)
Jezabels’ Humble Set
“In 2008, The Jezabels had an early morning slot, which we had to cut short due to a lot of rain. They ended up playing to just a few people and the Bob Cat , which was spreading sand. It’s a true highlight to see them come back to play headline spot this year.”
Xavier Rudd And His Naked Mate
“When Xavier Rudd stopped playing mid song and pointed to a naked man standing on his friend’s shoulders. Only to realise the naked man was a close friend of ours.”
(Monkey business)
Festival Of The Sun 2014 Lineup
Violent Soho
The Jezabels
Shihad
Allday
Dune Rats
Jackie Onassis
The Cairos
Apes
Steve Smyth
Goons Of Doom
The Lazys
The Stiffys
Tora
Sons of The East
Tropical Zombie
Pelican Itch
Karl S. Williams
Tim Chaisson
Timberwolf,
Chris Rose
Tegan Wiseman
I Oh You DJs
& Triple J Unearthed winner (TBA)
Festival Of The Sun 2014 Dates, Tickets
12th – 13 December 2014 – Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park, Port Macquarie
An 18+ BYO event. Children under 10 receive free entry
Tickets $165 (+b/f) – on sale 2nd September, 10am.
Ticket sales and information: www.fotsun.com *SOLD OUT*
