“The long wait is almost over”, according to Future Entertainment, who have announced the dates for next year’s Future Music Festival while teasing that the lineup will be revealed next Wednesday 10th October, just as the rumour mill was really started to heat up.

The news follows Laneway Festival’s recent announcement of their huge 2013 lineup that includes Bat For Lashes, Yeasayer and Japandroid, as well as Golden Plains revealing Cat Power as their first artist confirmed for next year’s event.

Future Music has garnered a reputation for ensnaring an eclectic bunch of bands in recent years, creating cross-over appeal that has enabled it to grow into one of the biggest festivals of the season. This year’s version of the lineup ranged from New Order, The Rapture, Friendly Fires and Aphex Twin, and if the rumours so far for next year are anything to go by, it will be just as diverse and exciting.

Now FasterLouder have added Madchester icons, The Happy Mondays, to the mix after the band tweeted that they could be touring Australia in February next year, suspiciously close to the just-announced Future dates.

The Happy Mondays join the impressive list of bands already linked to the Festival, including The Stone Roses, The Strokes, and Frank Ocean.

Pioneer alt-rockers The Stone Roses, who reformed last year, have been strongly speculated to be heading up the event, with a Reunion World Tour so far not landing on Australian shores. These claims have only been strengthened by Soundwave promoter A.J. Maddah, who tweeted earlier in the year that the band were “being paid ridiculous money by another festival”.

We’ll be putting our money on New York’s finest, The Strokes, who are currently working on their fifth studio album, to also headline the festival. The band were widely believed to be joining the 2012 lineup, but a tour with Foo Fighters, that eventually failed to materialise, put these plans to rest.

Frank Ocean is another strong bet, repaying his debt to the festival after controversially pulling out of the 2012 event only weeks before it was due to kick off to focus on major label debut, Channel Orange (and you can read the Tone Deaf verdict here)

If the eventual lineup is to your liking, Future Entertainment are giving fans the chance to become promoters for the festival, with a new ‘peer-to-peer’ ticking system where punters sell tickets to their friends at a discounted price while also pocketing a small commission via an online platform.

You can view the full dates for Future Music Festival below.

Future Music Festival Dates 2013:

Brisbane – Saturday 2 March 2013

Perth – Sunday 3 March 2013

Sydney – Saturday 9 March 2013

Melbourne – Sunday 10 March 2013

Adelaide – Monday 11 March 2013

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