It’s boom town in the mining regions of Western Australia, so it’s no surprise that some clever cookies are set to take advantage of the captive and cashed up audience of miners by bringing a brand new festival to the Town of Port Hedland, in the heart of the North West Pilbara Region of WA.
The town put the festival out to tender, eventually choosing Western Australian promoters Sunset Events that run the highly successful Southbound Festival, West Coast Blues ‘n Roots, and the Perth dates of Stereosonic, Laneway, and Groovin The Moo.
The aptly named North West Festival will take place at the McGregor Street Reserve in Port Hedland on Saturday 18th August 2012. Promoters have also announced that the inaugural festival will be headlined by the Australian kings of hip hop, Hilltop Hoods, who have recently been at the top of the national album and single charts with their latest platinum selling album Drinking From The Sun and hit “I Love It”.
The Hoods have produced groundbreaking hit after hit, with a career spanning six studio albums (two platinum and one double platinum selling), multiple ARIA wins, worldwide tours and armies of dedicated fans.
The one day event is also offering camping facilities, included in the ticket price, for those heading to Port Hedland from around the region. Please find more information on this below.
There will be more artists announced in the following weeks. Whilst you await the next juicy announcement, here’s some additional information by the promoters on the area and the festival itself.
Location
Port Hedland is one of the key towns in the Pilbara region of WA and boasts the largest tonnage export port in the world. Considered the centre of the Pilbara, Port Hedland is pivotal to delivering benefits to the economic position of our fair state and country. The awareness and growth of the town is growing exponentially due to the sheer quantity of resources exported from the Port.
The region features stunning natural landscapes with a primary colour palette of red, blue and gold. This truly unique town is synonymous with its red dirt, a border of ocean and stunning native flora.
The town boasts a long history with the original inhabitants, the Karriyarra people naming the area Marapikurrinya, for the hand shaped formation of creeks off the natural harbour. Indigenous rock art can be explored, and the town offers a wide range of leisure activities including fishing, whale watching and observation of the annual protected flatback turtle nesting.
One of WA’s most stunning national parks, Karijini is very close by, as is Millstream National Park. Tourism destinations such as Broome are a mere half-day drive away. Port Hedland features an international airport and is a short flight from Perth and South East Asia.
Camping
We’re pleased to announce that we will be offering camping facilities to those keen to head to the event from towns outside Port Hedland. We encourage you to bring a swag or tent, pull up a patch and take advantage of the toilet and shower facilities on offer.
We’re also very happy to advise that camping is included in the ticket price. More information on what is on offer and the conditions associated with camping at the festival will be available on our website in the coming weeks.
Please note that those who do camp will not be able to move their vehicles from the camp grounds until 6AM the following morning. More details will be available upon ticket purchase.
Accommodation
For those out of towners, we strongly advise you to take advantage of the free camping facilities on offer as accommodation in Port Hedland, as you may be aware, is extremely tight. However, if you do wish to investigate this option, we suggest heading here http://www.accommodationporthedland.com (.)
Ticketing
Tickets will go on sale at 9AM on Thursday 10th May from moshtix.com.au, moshtix outlets, and selected north west outlets or by phoning 1300 GET TIX (438 849).
There will be more information on pricing details and ticket outlets will be provided in the coming weeks.
The First Annual North West Festival
2pm, Saturday 18th August, 2012
McGregor Street Reserve, Port Hedland
