New Aussie Music Festival Set To Launch In New South Wales

Aside from the Splendour in the Grass, which has now completely sold out, there’s a notable lack of Australian winter music festivals, which is why a retired farmer and his grandson are aiming to fill the gap on the events calendar. Octogenarian Ray Harrisson, and his grandson Adam Taylor, will be launching a brand new camping festival for this Queen’s Weekend.

Bringing the Vagabond Music Festival to the New South Wales music scene this June, the three day festival is set to be held in the Kangaroo Valley, at Harrisson’s fruit orchard and will be able to accommodate for 3,000 campers from 8th to 10th June, as The Music reports.

Vagabond’s linep will feature a range of emerging Australian alternative rock and electronic acts, including Western Australian headliners, electro duo Canyons, who will collaborate with Sydney based visual artist Daniel Boyd for their performance, as Time Out reports.

A number of the other bands on the bill are Triple J Unearthed feature artists, including Sydney duo Fishing, known for their artistic video clips, the pair’s ambient synth sounds have seen them support the likes of SBTRKT, Cloud Control, and Jinja Safari. Then there’s Melbourne-based APES, an indie rock band with punk and garage influences hailing from Ballarat, due to release their sophomore album this June.

Melbourne six piece Lurch & Chief will bring their alternative rock sound and brooding male/female vocals to the inaugural Vagabond Festival, while Sydney’s Guineafowl will bring their pop sounds and anthem-like vocals to Kangaroo Valley. The three day festival is set to be held in the Kangaroo Valley, at Harrisson’s fruit orchard and will be able to accommodate for 3,000 campers

The rest of the lineup includes musical comedian The Bedroom Philosopher, Luke Million, Sandridge, The Money Go Round, Dylan Hill, The Cadres, Bell Weather Department, The Dead Heads, Jacobide, Psychlops Eyepatch, Pro/gram, Hubert Clark Jnr w/ Prof. Jacob Porter, and Chilean artist, DJ Sien.

Farmer Ray Harrisson has spent four years working on the venue to be suitable and received approval from the Shoalhaven City Council for his event. The 18+ rural festival is located on a site in the picturesque Kangaroo Valley, just a two hour drive from both Sydney and Canberra.

Following the sale of $50 early bird tickets, general tickets are on sale now at $75 (plus $4 booking fee). Ticket prices include free camping, and the festival is offering visitors a free shuttle bus for those staying in accommodation in the town.

The festival is supporting and collaborating with Mission Australia, a Sydney charity that provides free creative programs to disadvantages youth facing mental health issues, homelessness and unemployment.

The announcement of the Vagabond Festival comes after the news of several more music events being added to the circuit this year and going through their inaugural launch.

Also in New South Wales, there’s the recently announced music and arts festival Sounds on Sunset to be held this month from the 18th-19th of May. Aussie blues band, Snowdroppers will be headlining the festival alongside Galleri, Mar Haze, Jimmy Bazil Project, Royal Chant, The Whores For Pinot, and Jame Bennett. The two day event will see the bands playing on Saturday, with the Sunday hosting arts, crafts and food stalls.

As previously reported, Tasmania’s summer festival MONA FOMA, announced its “sister winter festival”, DARK MOFO, earlier the year. The event takes place from 13th to 23rd June and will offer festival goers a showcasing of art and storytelling, with a musical lineup that includes The Drones, The Presets, You Am I, and Martha Wainwright.

The festival takes place at MONA as well as venues scattered around Hobart. It comes after the success of MONA FOMA which had an impressive lineup featuring Talking Heads’ David Byrne and St Vincent, Hoodoo Gurus, Dirty Projectors, and Australian guitarist Spencer P. Jones.

Also reported, a group named Yellow Sunshine are looking to launch a new three day music festival to a crowd of 4,000; exploring regional areas to hire 200 hectares of farm land for the event. Project consultant David Rogers has told newspapers that the organisers need two weeks access to farmland for preparation and has put the call out to land owners willing to rent the property.

Tickets for Vagabond Music festival can be purchased here.

Vagabond Music Festival 2013 Lineup

DJ Sien
Guineafowl
Canyons
The Bedroom Philosopher
Fishing
Lurch & Chief
APES
Luke Million
Bec Sandridge
The Money Go Round
Dylan Hill
The Cadres
Bell Weather Department
The Dead Heads
Jacobide
Psychlops Eyepatch
Pro/gram
Hubert Clarke Jnr w/ Prof. Jacob Porter