For the past couple years we’ve documented Sydney’s Secret Garden as our favourite small camping festival in the country. With just a couple weeks until the 2017 edition, we’re counting down the days with baited breath.
A lot of what makes this festival so fun is the atmosphere – the small-ish crowd who, for the most part, are one of the most laid back, tolerant and dickhead-free in the country; the magical mystery feel of it all, with decorated bushland, hidden stages and quirky activities; the dress-up theme which absolutely everyone indulges in (Royal Rave this year, in case you’re wondering), and the overall feel-good vibes generally do just make it a great weekend for all involved. But it’s also a music festival, and there’s a tonne of great Australian acts on offer across all genres. One thing I love is that even the biggest stage is pretty small compared to your average multi-day festival, so you get a much more intimate experience than the norm.
The lineup has been curated to feature some of the country’s favourite live performers, and here’s our picks for must-see sets at Secret Garden 2017.
B Wise
B Wise was our favourite new local rapper to emerge last year. Not only did he release his critically acclaimed debut EP Semi-Pro, he showed us his prowess as a live performer, with support slots for artists including Vince Staples, ScHoolboy Q and Freddie Gibbs. Each time we seem him live, we’re blown away by his energy, positivity and confidence – don’t miss it, we doubt he’ll be playing on small stages for much longer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50j4P1cn8bg
The Cactus Channel
You may not be super familiar with The Cactus Channel, but that’s likely going to change pretty soon. Having already turned heads in the industry, nabbing collaborations with Chet Faker Nick Murphy and Sam Cromack of Ball Park Music, with whom they will be releasing a full collaborative EP later this year, their unique production, brassy rhythms and soulful, layered melodies will undoubtedly make for one of the most fun sets at Secret Garden – and who knows, maybe they’ll even bring a special guest or two.
Total Giovanni
If you’ve ever caught the on-stage party that is a Total Giovanni live set, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. The festival favourites bring the funk, the beats, the volume and a serious load of dancing. With matching outfits, an incredible stage presence and the obvious, immediate feeling that the band are having a tonne of fun on stage, it’s impossible to not get swept away into a musical frenzy when these guys are on stage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnvooAATzbs
Urthboy
Hip-hop veteran Urthboy has long been known as one of the most dynamic and exciting live artist on the scene for years. He’s been around for longer than most, but his music and on-stage presence is as intense and energetic as ever, with a vitality unmatched by many of his younger peers. Having just released a killer new single, Urthboy is gearing up for a national tour in March, right after Secret Garden. As one of the only live hip-hop acts on this year’s bill, we can’t wait to see what’s in store.
Donny Benet
Donny Benet has been a constant force in the quirkier, more eclectic side of things in the Sydney scene for years. First coming to attention with Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders, he signed to Plastic World last year, and has since been showcasing his more funky, retro, bass-driven electronic side through remixes, festivals and other live dates. Get down to his set and get ready to sweat.
Tickets are sold out, but you can find more info, including the full lineup at Secret Garden’s official website. Check out a festival playlist below for more music!
Image: Instagram
Sydney’s worst kept festival secret, Secret Garden, is finally happening this very weekend. Although a snippet of the acts performing were recently announced, as is tradition with the beloved event, the complete lineup is only revealed after all tickets have fully sold out. So now, finally, the full details are upon us – and boy is amazing.
Having already announced some of the greatest national acts around, including, the lineup has now shaped up to be the best showcase of Australian talent in recent memory. Gang of Youths, Green Buzzard, Saskwatch, Tuka, Mansionair, Palms, Gordi and plenty more have been added to the bill, bringing punters a delightful smorgasbord of rock, indie, electronic, hip-hop and more this weekend.
Joining the Australian acts will also be Atlanta-native Raury, who is currently in town as the coveted opening slot on A$AP Rocky‘s massive national tour, and will be bringing his uniquely genre-defying blend of hip-hop, indie and folk to this year’s event.
Unfortunately one of the main acts on the first bill, Hiatus Kaiyote, have had to cancel their appearance as well as their Sydney show that weekend. No further information is available, but hopefully we’ll get to see them again soon.
For those attending, don’t forget to bring your best and brightest costume ideas, both for the Friday night “Space Cowboy” theme, as well as the remainder of the weekend. As well as the billed artists, look out for comedians, dancers, drag queens, pop-up performances and a hell of a lot more.
Tickets are no longer available, but head to the festival’s official website for all information.
Secret Garden 2016 Full Lineup:
Adi Toohey – Ariane – Bad//Dreems – Black Vanilla – BUOY – CC:DISCO! – Cruisin’ Deuces – Dorsal Fins -Elizabeth Rose (DJ) – Ella Thompson – Gang of Youths – GG Magree – Gordi – Green Buzzard – Hayden James – Jess Kent – Jody – Jonathan Boulet – L-Fresh The Lion – Levins – Love Bombs – Luen – Mansionair – Money For Nothing DJs – Montaigne – Moonbase Commander – Motorik Vibe Council – Palms – Planéte -Purple Sneakers & Friends – Raury – Roland Tings – Saskwatch – Sampa The Great – Sex on Toast – Shag & Friends – Shantan Wantan Ichiban – SPORTS – Stereogamous – The Completely Boys – The Lulu Raes – The Meeting Tree – Tuka – World Champion
Image: Jack Toohey
With just over two weeks to go, Sydney’s beloved Secret Garden Festival has just revealed its first round of artists for 2016.
The all-Aussie lineup features some of the absolute best that our country has to offer, across electronic, hip-hop, indie and beyond:
Secret Garden 2016 lineup
Bad//Dreems
Dorsal Fins
Hayden James
Hiatus Kaiyote
Montaigne
Roland Tings
Sampa The Great
Stereogamous
The Meeting Tree
World Champion
This is just the “tip of the iceberg,” with 50 bands and DJs in total being announced, alongside 30+ actors, pop-up performances and plenty more across eight dance floors and six stages. For those keen to go the extra festival mile, the event has also revealed its fancy dress theme for the Friday night: Space Cowboys.
Secret Garden takes place from February 26 – 28. One day tickets have already sold out, and there’s only a few weekend tickets still available. The full lineup will be revealed once the event sells out – so get in quick!
Now in its eighth year, Secret Garden Festival is a charity-supporting event which has proudly donated hundreds of thousands to Oxfam, The Boys & Girls Brigade and the Sarah Hilt Foundation.
For details, tickets and more information, click here.
One of Sydney’s most beloved small festivals, Secret Garden is only a few weeks away, and it’s time to start getting read. Now in its eighth glorious year, organisers have announced the annual Friday night fancy dress theme: SPACE COWBOY PARTY.
What that might entail is anybody’s guess. Aliens, sheriffs, outlaws and intergalactic space commanders meet head to head in a glorious battle that’ll go down in history as one of the biggest, not to mention brightest.
For me, the first thing that came to mind was Joss Whedon’s incredible short-lived space-western series Firefly, and that Doctor Who episode where the Doctor, Amy and Rory take on an alien cowboy outlaw in a rundown Western town. But that’s enough of my dorkiness for one article.
This year, Secret Garden announced that they’re making serious changes, having added on an entire extra day to the traditionally one-day camping affair. Punters will get the chance to catch 50 bands and DJs, 30 actors and plenty more across the weekend – including a “very busy” kissing booth!
Renowned for its easygoing vibe, its ‘small festival’ attitude and of course, some incredibly impressive costumes, the 2016 edition is sure to be the best one yet.
Secret Garden takes place from February 26 – 28, 2016. Grab your tickets and more information right here.
We’re getting closer and closer to the start of summer, and in turn the start of a jam-packed festival season. How are we going to fit it all in? If you’re a pessimist, or a worry wart, or whatever, as the festival season approaches, you’ve probably already thought about its ending. “Oh no,” I can hear you saying to yourself, “all these amazing festivals and shows are all around New Year’s Eve, what on earth am I going to do towards the end of the summer? Well, have no fear. Secret Garden Festival is here. Now in its eighth incarnation, the festival has not only grown more popular and well-reputed, but now, it’s literally grown bigger. Last month, the festival announced that its 2016 edition would include an entire extra day. Massive. Tickets have just gone on pre-sale for those lucky enough to have registered already, so here’s a comprehensive list of reasons not to miss out on tickets when they roll around soon enough.
For those unsure about if you want to grab a ticket this week, we’ve compiled our five favourite reasons why Secret Garden is the ultimate end-of-summer event.
FAMILY OWNED FUN
Forget North Byron Parklands, The Domain or Olympic Park, Secret Garden is held at a very secret, very gorgeous location about an hour south of Sydney. Surrounded by beautiful farm and wildlands, you’d be forgiven to think that Secret Garden was a lot further than an hour and a half away from Australia’s biggest city. The location itself isn’t just a vacant lot, but actually farmland that belongs to the festival organiser’s parents, and you get that really lovely family owned vibe throughout the entire weekend. You’ll see the organisers and their families jump up on stage, get super into the costuming and serve drinks behind the bar. It’s something you don’t get at any other festival, a sense of family which is usually replaced by a more company and brand skewed feel. That sense of family really gets into the minds of the punters as well. Everyone’s super friendly in the campsite which sits right near the festival grounds, everyone gets really into the dress-up themes, and has an excellent time no matter what gets thrown at them, including brutal rain (which immediately turns into several inches of muddy mush).
ECO-FRIENDLY
The farm side of things really comes into how well everyone treats the festival as well. Unfortunately taking care of sites can get cast aside by festival-goers at large events, but at Secret Garden it’s a real focus, and everybody happily chips in. There’s tonnes of recycling and rubbish bins absolutely everywhere, volunteers walking through sites grabbing people’s bags of rubbish for them, and even punters get stuck in and pick shit up when they can see that it doesn’t belong there.
MUSIC
Secret Garden has a history of booking some unique and incredible acts from Australia and around the globe. Parquet Courts, Sharon Van Etten, Ryan Hemsworth and Lunice are just a few of the most recent internationals, while Baro, Client Liaison, The Rubens, Japanese Wallpaper, Total Giovanni and way more have repped the local talent. If you were to jump over to their site right now, you’d see that they haven’t announced the acts for next year – they never do. Secret Garden has such a loyal following and good reputation for booking sick acts that the festival almost always sells out before they announce any part of the lineup in the two or so months leading up to it. Another reason to get in there fast before you’re trying to score a ticket off Gumtree at triple the original price.
ATMOSPHERE
There’s so much more to the music at Secret Garden – there’s something for everyone across this excellent weekend. From a great selection of food trucks and small bars tucked away in the forest, to three-legged races and other nostalgic games, a drag stage, and even forcing festival-wide participation in a kind of end of the world NYE-scenario – a small American town with a cult following ‘the chosen one’ (one punter completely unaware that they’ve been chosen as the messiah). As we mentioned, fancy dress is a huge part of Secret Garden, with everyone going all out with their costumes every year. At other festivals you might see a few people dressed up, but it’s never as big a spectacle as it is here, and it’s never up to the same quality – and that makes it all the more fun. You could go without seeing a single musical act, and still spend the whole weekend lost in all the bars, art installations and activities held all over the festival site.
VOLUNTEERING
If you’re strapped for cash, but this is still sounding primo to you, then have no fear. Secret Garden has an amazing culture of volunteering that’s been going for years. You can jump on parking duties, waste removal, or serve drinks behind the bar, whatever takes your fancy, and you’ll get a free ticket for each day that you do four hours work on. It’s also a great way to meet people – not only other people volunteering, but also the organisers of the festival. It’s unlikely that you’ll see the family and friends of major festival organisers jumping behind the bar and checking in with the volunteers. They want to make sure that everyone’s having a good time, and it’s impossible not to. Still not sure? Check this compilation of highlight’s from this year’s festival:
data-width="500" data-allowfullscreen="true">Tickets go live to the public this Wednesday the 11th of November at 11am here (11/11/11). There’s no doubt that they’re going to sell out, so make sure you jump in there quick to secure yourself a spot at the new and improved version of Secret Garden. If volunteering sounds good to you, jump on their site here and get in early as well – first in, best dressed. Say goodbye to the Summer properly on the weekend of the 26th of February – be there or be square!
All photos courtesy of SG’s website.
