Music festivals in Melbourne: our summer guide

Mark your calendars Melbourne because Always Live is back to deliver more than 60 events and 165 artists to metro venues and regional Victorian towns across November and December.

Someone must have summoned a genie in a bottle because the Always Live line-up is the stuff of dreams, with none other than – *drumroll please* – Christina Aguilera set to kick off the statewide festivities. The six-time Grammy Award-winning US singer, songwriter, activist, and all-around legend will perform a one-off show at Flemington Racecourse on Saturday, November 25.

Mark your calendars because the countdown for Meredith Music Festival is officially on. Set to make a glorious return to the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre for its 31st birthday; the festival has announced its line-up for 2023 with Kraftwerk, Alex G, Alvvays and Caroline Polacheck as the main headliners. 

Kick off 2024 with a bang at Sun Cycle, the New Year's Day celebration that takes place at Coburg Velodrome. Produced by WAT Artists, Untitled Group and Crown Ruler, Sun Cycle has announced a flaming line-up of headline acts for next year's birthday, including Erika de Casier, Overmono, Objekt, Jayda G and Midlife.

Australia's biggest New Year's festival is back again and we're beyond keen for a boogie.  

We've been waiting impatiently for a line-up, and finally the Beyond the Valley team have delivered the goods. This year's program is jam-packed with international and local artists who'll soundtrack a NYE to remember and we've got all the juicy deets so you can stop daydreaming and start planning. Here's everything you need to know about the festival.  

Summer Camp Festival – Australia’s first touring Pride event – is returning for round two this December, after a smash hit launch last year. The festival of DJs, drag queens, dancers and performance artists will take Melbourne by a glitter storm on December 2 before sashaying through Sydney on December 3. 

 After its debut in 2017, Pitch Music & Arts Festival quickly became one of the most exciting and hotly anticipated events on the festival circuit. Held at the tranquil foothills of the Grampian Plains, it aims to deliver a distinct blend of sonic soundscapes across three architecturally designed stages.

And dust off that doof stick because it will return in 2024 for the seventh edition. From March 8-12, 2024, the festival will be headlined by Gerd Janson, Patrick Mason, french techno producer I Hate Models, Italian acid techno duo 999999999, Job Jobse, Berghain resident Marcel Dettmann and VTSS. 

 Daniel Avery will do a live set for the first time in Australia, coinciding with the recent 10th anniversary of his classic album Drone Logic. KiNK will also be playing a live set. They’ll be joined by Turkish-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer Nene H and Mama Snake. 

Other International artists who are featured include: Chaos in the CBD, Aurora Halal (LIVE), Bailey Ibbs, Sally C, Bambounou, Bitter Babe, Cakes da Killa (LIVE), Chippy Nonstop, Chlär, Clara Cuvé, Cromby, Dan Shake and many more.

Pitch Music & Arts will also highlight local pioneers including: jamesjamesjames who will be playing back-to-back with the likes of Willaris. K, Surusinghe, RONA., Bertie, Memphis LK, dameeeela and many more.

 For those looking for a moment of reprieve, the Pitch Pavilion will appear this year. The tranquil sanctuary is where festivalgoers can participate in yoga classes, sound baths and ambient meditation. For those ready to rough it, you can bring your own tent and set it up in a free camping area. If you're a fan of creature comforts, there are a couple of glamping packs to choose from that include access to premium shower and toilet amenities, power, soft bedding and more. 

Pitch is BYO and allows you to bring up to 24 cans, or one bottle of spirits decanted into a plastic bottle. There will be numerous bars on site serving cocktails, mixed drinks and a range of beers. 

Registrations for the ballot are now open through the website, with tier one tickets going on sale on Thursday, November 9 at 6pm AEDT. Tier two is on Friday, November 10 at 12pm AEDT. And the remaining tickets will be released on Monday, November 13 at 6pm AEDT.

 Head to the Pitch website for the full line-up and to find out more information. 

When the beloved Falls Festival announced it was "taking a break" earlier this year, many of us loyal to the long-standing event wondered: what the heck were we going to do on New Year's Eve this year? 

Well, our questions have been answered, as a new one-day festival offering called Heaps Good is set to soundtrack our entrance into 2024, with an absolute ripper of a line-up featuring electronic music titan Flume, British rockers Foals and legendary experimental Aussie group the Avalanches.

The full line-up for Heaps Good in Melbourne includes Flume, Foals, the Avalanches, SBTRKT, Basement Jaxx, Griff, Holly Humberstone, May-A and Sycco and Logan. It's a super diverse mix of artists spanning a variety of genres that will surely create a magical journey into the new year.

Start dreaming of summer: St Jerome’s Laneway Festival is on its way. 

The one-day festival is known for bringing out some of the hottest new acts alongside local talents. It's returning to The Park in Flemington on February 10, 2024, and we can’t wait to get hot’n’sweaty in the front row. The line-up for Laneway has dropped and it’s chock full of big international acts ready to delight fans in the new year.

It's time to dry your eyes, because none other than the Streets have been announced as the headlining act for next year's Golden Plains. Along with the likes of 'Brothers on the Slide' singer Cymande, the multi-award-winning band King Stingray and jazz-drummer extraordinaire Yussef Dayes, Golden Plains will return in all its resplendent hues next March.