Following what has been a tumultuous three months for Australia’s biggest free music event, this week the St Kilda Festival announced its full musical lineup for its 2013 edition set to take place Saturday 2nd February through to Sunday on the 10th February.
The music-lined Festival Sunday closes out the week, with performances from the likes of Bluejuice, Pez, Ash Grunwald, Loon Lake, Thelma Plum, Hiatus Kaiyote, Eagle & The Worm, and a closing DJ set from Midnight Juggernauts, with many more playing across several stages.
As previously reported however, St Kilda Festival very nearly didn’t go ahead after the local City of Port Phillip council found difficulties in funding the approx. $1.2 million budget, later urging the State Government to help shoulder the costs of running the event and ensuring its future survival.
According to organisers however, his year’s St Kilda Festival could be the last unless a major sponsor is found.
“We are back for 2013. The festival will be reviewed after that and the future is anybody’s guess at this stage,” festival producer Adele Denison told The Age’s Sticky Carpet. ‘The money conversation is always really tough,” she says. “[It has] always been a really vexed issue and will continue to be.” “We are back for 2013. The festival will be reviewed after that and the future is anybody’s guess at this stage” – Adele Denison, St Kilda Festival Producer
The festival hasn’t had a major financial backer since Foxtel sponsored the festival in 2010, and even knocked back a half-million dollar deal from Jeep – a division of the Chrysler motor company – because it was seen to be at odds with the local council’s stern sustainable transport policy.
City of Port Phillip later did a u-turn on their decision last September when a significant black hole was discovered in the budget, leading to then-Deputy Mayor Frank O’Connor calling for an urgent review of the music festival at a council hearing after estimating it would cost $1.2 million to budget the event.
Before seriously considering scrapping the Festival Sunday, which attracted a record attendance of 420,000 in 2011, to save on costs, local council finally came to their senses and decided to soldier on with putting on St Kilda Festival for 2013.
“The festival Sunday is a huge undertaking and one of Melbourne’s major events,” says Denison. “It is really important to the festival and the council to keep it a free event. We want as many people to be able to go as possible.” The festival generally attracts many punters outside of the municipality, while the costs of the festival are made by City of Port Phillip ratepayers.
Catani Ward coucillor Serge Thomann, who has been fighting in favour of the festival’s survival and was making detailed enquiries about the refused Jeep sponsorship deal back in July, said that cancelling the event would have been a “slap in the face” to the community, but recognised that funding for the festival remained a challenge. “Hopefully we will find a saviour in the next two to three months,” he stated last September, adding that crowdfunding through the likes of Kickstarter or Pozible may be a viable option if the state government chose to ignore their financial woes.
Meanwhile, the full lineup for St Kilda Festival 2013, which includes more than 150 artists playing across seven stages and more than 40 venues across the Melbourne beachside suburb, can be found in detail here, with highlights below and details at stkildafestival.com.au/2013
St Kilda Festival 2013 Lineup
Saturday 2nd February to Sunday 10th February 2013.
The St Kilda Festival is produced and presented by the City of Port Phillip and supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria.
MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS DJS / BLUEJUICE / ASH GRUNWALD / PEZ / OH MERCY / THELMA PLUM / KYLIE AULDIST / LOON LAKE / NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE / THE CACTUS CHANNEL / HIATUS KAIYOTE / GREY GHOST / EAGLE & THE WORM / WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS / ROYAL JELLY DIXIELAND BAND / PETER COMBE & THE QUIRKY BERSERKY NEWSPAPER MAMA BAND / BUCKLEY WARD / SHAUN KIRK / ANIMAUX / STILLWATER GIANTS / WARNING BIRDS / ROSCOE JAMES IRWIN / THE TWOKS / CLIENT LIAISON / STRAYLOVE / SUB ATARI KNIVES / THE REFUNDS / JOHN FLANAGAN AND THE BEGIN AGAINS / DIRT RIVER RADIO / BELLE ROSCOE / ELOQUOR / SOUL SAFARI / KASHMERE CLUB / BETTER THAN THE WIZARDS / FLOUNDER
+ MANY MORE
