| The Falls Festival | |
|---|---|
| Genre | rock,indie,hip hop,electronic,blues &roots. |
| Dates | Ranging between 28 Dec and 8 Jan |
| Locations | Australia
|
| Years active | 1993–2022 |
| Organised by | Live Nation |
| Website | fallsfestival.com |
Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known asFalls) was a multi-daymusic festival held annually inByron Bay (New South Wales) andFremantle (Western Australia),Australia over theNew Year's Eve and January period.[1] The festival hosts contemporary music performances, dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, and other art forms.Camping was available and all locations have nearby beaches which are either walking distance or a short bus ride away. Artists playing at the festival includerock,hip-hop,indie music,electronic music,blues androots.
The Festival was previously held inLorne, Victoria from its inception until 2018,[2]Marion Bay, Tasmania between 2003 and 2019[3] andMelbourne, Victoria in 2022.[2]
The Falls Festival in Byron Bay features arave party hidden behind awashing machine in alaundromat.[4]
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The festival started in 1993, with a small one-day concert, held inLorne,Victoria, Australia, and was namedRock Above The Falls. The initial event attracted nearly 11,000 people, exceeding the organisers' expectations, and the organisers negotiated the use of neighbouring land to accommodate the crowd.
In 1995, the event adopted a two-day format, and in 1996 the name was changed toThe Falls Music & Arts Festival. The 1999 festival was the first to be held off the Lorne site, moved temporarily to theTorquay site of theOffshore Festival due to poor weather.
Two events were held simultaneously for the first time in 2003; one in Lorne, and an additional event atMarion Bay,Tasmania. The same acts played at both events; the 30 December acts who played at Lorne, play 31 December at Marion Bay, and vice versa. Both the Lorne and Marion Bay festivals have continued to run simultaneously and artists continue to be exchanged between the two locations over the course of the festival. Subsequent festivals retained this two-location format.
The Byron edition of the event was introduced in 2013, increasing the reach of the festival across the country.
In 2019, the festival at the Lorne site was cancelled due to extreme bushfire risk during the2019–20 Australian bushfire season.[5] All editions of the festivals in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia, with organisers citing interstate travel restrictions.[6]
In 2021, the Marion Bay edition of the festival was cancelled permanently, with organisers citing low revenue from the event.[3] In March 2023, Secret Sounds, the organisers of the festivals, placed the 273 hectare Marion Bay property that hosted the Tasmanian festival on the market, to be sold under expressions of interest.[7]
In 2022, the Victorian edition of the festival was held at theSidney Myer Music Bowl in inner city Melbourne, after originally being planned for the town ofMurroon, located 35 km from Lorne. Organisers of the Festival pulled out of the planning process after a small local group opposed the planning permit approval.[2]
The festival did not run in 2023 as the organisers decided to take the year off.[8]
As of New Year’s Eve 2025, the event has not been staged again. Festival owner Live Nation has instead been promoting a dance music event named New Year’s At The Bowl.
In 2008, the Falls Festival won theFasterLouder Festival Award for 'Best Lineup' and the following year the Marion Bay site received the 'Favourite Venue and Location' award.[9]
The festival has a strong focus on sustainability, taking home the following awards over the past few years:
TheNational Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Live Music Awards of 2016[10] | Falls Festival | Best Live Music Festival or Event | Nominated |
| National Live Music Awards of 2018[11][12] | Falls Festival | Best Live Music Festival or Event | Nominated |
| National Live Music Awards of 2019[13][14] | Falls Festival | Victorian Live Event of the Year | Won |
| Tasmanian All Ages Achievement | Won |
Performers at the 2003-04 event include Australian artistsXavier Rudd,The Beautiful Girls,Gerling,Regurgitator andThe Waifs; and international actsMichael Franti andSpearhead,Pennywise,Reel Big Fish, andOzomatli. Like many Australian festivals, the event also promotes local bands, with Victorian and Tasmanian artists also performing at their respective state's festival. Solo female performerMissy Higgins promoted the release of her album and several singles, for which she was later recognised by receiving multiple awards at theARIA Awards in 2005.[citation needed]
The 2004/05 festival was again held at both venues. Both sites sold out early – the only Falls Festival to sell as fast was the 1999 event. Artists performing at the event included:
Artists who performed at the 2005 event included:
In 2005 tickets for the Marion Bay festival sold out two and a half days after going on sale on 15 August, and Lorne tickets selling out one week after coming on sale.
Further allocations of tickets for both festivals were released during December and sold out within hours of coming on sale. An unlimited number of Falls Festival patrons were able to attend the 'Falls Cinema' on Thursday 29 December (one day earlier than the official kick-off) in an effort to minimize traffic congestion. In Tasmania, the number of tickets available were capped at 9000.
In early July, a new website for the 2006 event was launched. People were able to subscribe to the official mailing list and be entered into the draw to be offered tickets ahead of the official release date of 16 August. Subscribers that were selected were notified by 30 July.Tickets for the 2006 festival were put on sale as of 9 am, 16 August. All tickets to the Lorne event were gone in about 2 hours. The Marion Bay event followed suit, with all tickets sold out within 3.5 hours.
The announced performers as of 28 December, include:
Restrictions on ticket sales were made in 2006 (in the form of a ballot) in an attempt to curb the increasing practice ofticket resale, commonly known as 'scalping', as well as to make the access to tickets more equitable. The changes reflected similar alterations made to ticket sale procedures of other major Australian music festivals such asSplendour in the Grass andThe Big Day Out. Previously, tickets had been released for sale in bulk and with no limit on the number of tickets able to be purchased by an individual, resulting in a high incidence of individuals purchasing multiple tickets, and a subsequent sell-out of tickets within 12 – 24 hours.
The restrictions included a purchasing limit of four tickets per any individual, as well as the initiation of an online ticket lottery, which randomly allocated the sale of approximately 50% of all tickets to a list of people who had registered their interest on the Festival's website. Tickets were also released on multiple dates rather than in bulk, to make sales more manageable and to increase consumer accessibility to the sale of tickets.
The artists at the festival of 2007/08 included:[15]
(* Lorne Only), (** Marion Bay only)
Ticket purchasing procedures changed again in 2007, extending changes made to procedures in 2006. Changes included:
Tickets went on sale to the general public on Monday 10 September at 9 am AEST, with the 14,500 tickets to the Lorne event selling out on the day they were released.
Those marked with an asterisk (*) played in Lorne only.
Funk’n’Soul Revue
Those marked with an asterisk (*) played in Lorne only.
Those marked with a caret (^) played in Marion Bay only.
On 6 August 2009 some of the bands scheduled to play at the 2009 Falls Festival wereleaked online due to a directory being left open on the official falls festival website. The organisers subsequently decided to officially release the entire first line-up announcement ahead of the scheduled 13 August release date.[16]
On 7 October 2009 the Falls Festival announced that they would be putting on a pre-festival party, and extending the Falls Funk’n’Soul Revue to Lorne on 28 December. The extension of the revue made the Lorne festival a four-day event from 28 December to 1 January. The Funk’n’Soul Revue occurred over two days across the respective states, on the 28th in Lorne and on the 29th in Marion Bay with slightly differing lineups across the two locations.[17]
| Marion Bay Only Lorne Only
|
| Lorne Only
|
|
Joining
Those marked with a * played in Lorne only
Those marked with a ^ played in Byron Bay only[20]
In 2015 the eventsLorne, Victoria venue was threatened by bushfires in the area and moved toMount Duneed Estate, which is approximately 15 minutes fromGeelong.[21]
+ more to be announced[22]
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