Falls Festival, commonly known as , Falls Music & Arts Festival is an Australian music and arts festival whose events were traditionally held over the New Year period. It began in Lorne, Victoria in 1993 as Rock Above the Falls and later expanded to Marion Bay in Tasmania, Byron Bay in New South Wales and Fremantle in Western Australia. Its most recent events were held in Melbourne, Byron Bay and Fremantle during the 2022–23 summer. In May 2023, organisers announced that the festival would take time off to reconsider its future. By July 2026, it had not returned.
History Falls Festival began in Lorne, Victoria, in 1993 as Rock Above the Falls. The inaugural event attracted an unexpected crowd of about 11,000 people. The festival was extended to two days in 1995 and was renamed Falls Music & Arts Festival in 1996.
In 2003, the festival expanded to Marion Bay, Tasmania. In 2013, the festival expanded further to North Byron Parklands near Byron Bay, New South Wales. In January 2017, Falls Festival expanded to Western Australia with a sold-out two-day edition in central Fremantle.
After the festival commenced in December 2019, the remaining days of the Lorne edition were cancelled due to forecast extreme weather and bushfire risk. Falls Festival did not run during the 2020–21 or 2021–22 New Year periods because of COVID-19 restrictions.
In November 2021, Secret Sounds announced that the Marion Bay edition would not return after 17 years. The company’s co-chief executive, Jessica Ducrou, said the event had consistently lost money and no longer made financial sense.
The Victorian edition was held at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne from 29 to 31 December 2022. It had originally been planned for a site at Murroon, but an appeal against the approved planning permit delayed the process beyond the scheduled festival dates. Secret Sounds withdrew from the permit process in December 2022, citing the time and expense involved.
In May 2023, organisers announced that Falls Festival would take time off following its 2022–23 editions, saying the team needed a break and time to reconsider the festival’s future. By July 2026, the festival had not returned.
Awards and nominations At the 2009 FasterLouder Festival Awards, the Marion Bay edition of Falls Festival received the Favourite Venue & Location award.FasterLouder Festival Awards 2009 .
In 2012, Falls Festival won the Qantas Award for Sustainable Tourism at the Victorian Tourism Awards. In 2013, the Marion Bay edition won the Major Festivals & Events category at the Tasmanian Tourism Awards, while the Lorne edition received the Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism at the Victorian Tourism Awards.
National Live Music Awards The National 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.
| National Live Music Awards of 2016 | Falls Festival | Best Live Music Festival or Event
| National Live Music Awards of 2018 | Falls Festival | Best Live Music Festival or Event
| rowspan="2" | National Live Music Awards of 2019 | rowspan="2"| Falls Festival | Victorian Live Event of the Year
| Tasmanian All Ages Achievement
Lineups 1996
Pennywise Radio Birdman Regurgitator Custard Powderfinger The Living End Even Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes Sidewinder Pollyanna Bodyjar Snout Moler Rebecca's Empire Meantime
1997
Iggy Pop You Am I The Cruel Sea Hard Ons Lagwagon Superjesus Jebediah Shihad Grinspoon Guttermouth The Living End Even Something For Kate Deadstar Front End Loader Pre Shrunk Sprung Monkey
1998
Blondie Mudhoney Bentley Rhythm Ace Rocket From The Crypt Unwritten Law Area-7 The Avalanches Magic Dirt Moler You Am I Grinspoon Superjesus Nancy Vandal Ammonia Screamfeeder Even Bodyjar Something For Kate Frenzal Rhomb Violetine Voitek Honeysmack Pound System
1999
Violent Femmes The Tea Party Freddy Fresh Regurgitator Something For Kate You Am I Frenzal Rhomb Superheist Killing Heidi DJ Boppa 28 Days Alex Lloyd Area-7 Rhubarb Pollyanna The Fauves
2000
Silverchair Reef The Vandals Freestylers Killing Heidi Superjesus The Avalanches Magic Dirt Bodyjar Groove Terminator John Butler Trio Skulker Pre Shrunk Sunk Loto 78 Saab Superheist Rocket Science Dallas Crane Nokturnl Nitocris The Waifs George Machine Gun Fellatio Resin Dogs Friendly (musician) Josh Abrahams 1200 Techniques Honeysmack Voitek
2001
The Hives Stanton Warriors Grinspoon Regurgitator John Butler Trio Something For Kate 28 Days Resin Dogs Groove Terminator Alex Lloyd Paul Kelly Bodyjar Dr. Alex Paterson George Superheist Area-7 One Dollar Short 1200 Techniques Dern Rutlidge Warped NuBreed On Inc Pound System Blueline Medic For Amusement Only
2002
Jack Johnson The Black Eyed Peas Ozomatli Timo Maas The Vandals The Ataris Brad Grinspoon Machine Gun Fellatio Infusion Xavier Rudd 1200 Techniques The Casanovas You Am I Magic Dirt Jet Rocket Science The Drones Underside Antiskeptic The Gels The Butterfly Effect Groove Terminator Offcutts Warped Pete Murray Even Melatonin The Beautiful Girls The Sleepy Jackson Phil Smart Goodwill Samuel Jackson The Alias Ballpoint Three Rounds Shy (JJJ Unearthed) Ransom Quirk
2003
Michael Franti and Spearhead Rollins Band Groove Armada Pennywise Reel Big Fish G. Love and Special Sauce Turin Brakes Ozomatli Mason Jennings Paul Kelly The Waifs Xavier Rudd Regurgitator The Beautiful Girls Cog The Mess Hall Trey Bodyjar Dallas Crane Dexter Bit By Bats Nubreed Krafty Kuts Cut Copy Missy Higgins TZU James De La Cruz Offcuts Danny Kelly and the Alpha Males The Butterfly Effect After The Fall Degrees K The Pictures Riff Random Ember Swift Bomba Gerling Harry Manx DJ's Kano & Ennio Styles Flagrant and Ben Shepard John Course and Goodwill Bugdust Epicure The Swedish Styles Carus Whalebone The Charlie Parkers Damon The Go Set The Double Agents Mick Hart SMC Unleash The Nugget Reflex Waiter Peter Cornelius and the Devilles The Fat Band Enola Fall Taiko Drum S. Jackson and Somantik Sharif Galal DJ Selekt and B Dub
2004
The Black Keys De La Soul Billy Bragg The Living End The John Butler Trio Missy Higgins The Thrills Veruca Salt Spiderbait The Cat Empire Xavier Rudd Donavon Frankenreiter You Am I The Beautiful Girls Vusi Mahlasela Hilltop Hoods Rocket Science Dakota Star Bob Brozman Downsyde TZU The New Pollutants Butterfingers The Panics Hayden Sarah Blasko Even The Cops Betchadupa The Spazzys The Vasco Era Carus and The True Believers Epicure Mia Dyson Ash Grunwald The Hot Lies Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set The Roys
2005 Artists who performed at the 2005 event included:
The Dandy Warhols Ozomatli The Shins Ian Brown Wolfmother Pete Murray The Beautiful Girls The Vasco Era Faker TZU The Grates Hoodoo Gurus The Zutons Sarah Blasko End of Fashion The White Buffalo The Mess Hall Evermore Dallas Crane Lior Matt Walker and Ashley Davies 67 Special Ugly Duckling The Cat Empire Rolling Blackouts The Presets Eric Bibb Kelly Stoltz Little Birdy Ash Grunwald Dappled Cities Fly True Live Offcutts Katalyst and RuCL Rob Sawyer Mia Dyson Youth Group Dan Sultan & Scott Wilson The Embers
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 minimise traffic congestion. In Tasmania, the number of tickets available were capped at 9000.
2006 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:
Modest Mouse Michael Franti and Spearhead Wolfmother Basement Jaxx The Bees John Butler Trio Saul Williams The Black Seeds Matt Costa The Vasco Era Dan Kelly and The Alpha Males The Fumes Dallas Frasca & Her Gentlemen You Am I The Audreys Youth Group Josh Pyke Blue King Brown Jamie Lidell Hilltop Hoods Eskimo Joe Unleash the Nugget Wolf & Cub Dexter Timmy Curran Labjacd Scribe The Sleepy Jackson The Mountain Goats Little Birdy The Exploders Jen Cloher and The Endless Sea Dan Sultan Cansei de Ser Sexy Ground Components FourPlay String Quartet Custom Kings Muph & Plutonic The Embers
Restrictions on ticket sales were made in 2006 (in the form of a ballot) in an attempt to curb the increasing practice of ticket 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 as Splendour in the Grass and The 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.
2007 The artists at the festival of 2007/08 included:
Kings of Leon Groove Armada Paul Kelly Midnight Juggernauts Black Rebel Motorcycle Club The Waifs Gotye Built to Spill José González The Go! Team Blackalicious The Mess Hall Girl Talk Kev Carmody Whiskey Go Go's Neville Staple's Specials Adam Cousens** Bridget Pross** Magic Dirt* Sarah Blasko* Children Collide* Jackson Jackson* The Pipettes The Herd Lior Little Red Operator Please Old Man River Angus and Julia Stone The Beautiful Girls Regurgitator Clare Bowditch Downhills Home* Jeff Lang Cut Off Your Hands The Scientists of Modern Music Diafrix Mattafix Busdriver The Panics Dirty Harry and the Rockets** The Cops Nathan Weldon and the Two Timers** Special Patrol* Dukes of Windsor* Macromantics* The Paper Scissors* Dances With Voices* Goons of Doom* Whitley La Fiesta Sound System* Favela Rock DJs* Tokyo Apartment Party DJs* Thief Featuring DJ Gsan & Mugen with Paris Well* Jennifer Tutty & Katie Drover Hoops* Funktrust DJs* Uber Lingua DJs* New Young Pony Club*
(* Lorne Only), (** Marion Bay only)
Ticket purchasing procedures changed again in 2007, extending changes made to procedures in 2006. Changes included: the extension of the ticket lottery from 50% to 80% of all tickets – intended to increase the equity of ticket sale. the centralisation of all ticket sales to the Falls Festival Website – intended to eliminate the need to line up outside stores overnight to purchase a ticket, as well as prevent criminal problems associated with it such as littering and drinking in public.