St Kilda Festival

As we approach the 2024 local government elections, the City of Port Phillip’s Council will enter caretaker mode for the period known as the Election Period.

The Election Period starts at 12 midday tomorrow, Tuesday 17 September, and continues until 6 pm on election day, which is Saturday 26 October 2024.

In accordance with the Local Government Act 2020, during this period Council resources will not be used for electoral matter, and any material produced by councils must not contain content that could influence the election. This means that communications via St Kilda Festival’s social media and other communication channels will be limited to only essential information during this time.

You can still contact the St Kilda Festival team through our website or email us at [email protected]

Head here to learn more: https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/about-the-council/news-and-media/a-guide-to-the-upcoming-election-period

We're searching for market and food stalls keen to be part of St Kilda Fest’s next huge summer celebration ☀️

Opportunities are now open for both itinerant and permanent traders to get involved at St Kilda Festival on Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 February 2025.

The fest routinely draws huge crowds over 350,000, so don’t miss your chance to get your business in front of them! Head to our website to apply today: https://bit.ly/SKF-Traders

Applications close at 5pm Sunday 20th October.



📷 Will Hamilton-Coates

Entries for our New Music Competition close next week!

Apply before 5pm Wednesday 18 September for your chance to perform before huge crowds at St Kilda Festival.

If you’re an emerging Australian artist/band, this is the perfect platform to share your music with thousands of punters. Selected artists will also go in the running for $5,000 and the chance to perform on a key stage at St Kilda Festival 2026.

So don’t wait – follow the link to show us what you got: https://bit.ly/NMC-Enter

Images:
2024 NMC winner Mudrat (📸 Charlie Ashfield)
2023 NMC winner Julian Munyard (📸 Will Hamilton-Coates)

Entries for the 2025 New Music Competition are now open!

We're scouring the country in search of up to 10 talented original artists/bands to play the New Music Stage at St Kilda Festival next year.

The selected acts will perform a 30-minute set of original material at the forthcoming St Kilda Festival on Sunday 16 February 2025, with the crowd favourite taking home:

- A $5,000 cash prize
- An invitation to perform on one of our key stages at St Kilda Festival in 2026

We can't wait to hear your tunes!

Competition entries close on Wednesday 18 September.



Julian Munyard at St Kilda Festival 2024. 📸 Will Hamilton-Coates

Enter the New Music Competition The New Music Competition has been a celebrated part of St Kilda Festival since 2007, and has hosted acts that have become some of the country’s most notable artists including Baker Boy, Missy Higgins, Client Liaison, and more.

Are you part of a community group and keen to do your thing at St Kilda Festival in 2025?

Expressions of interest are now open for all community groups, including local choirs, dance schools, performance collectives, and more!

Submit an application to be considered as part of Big Festival Sunday (Day 2) on 16 February 2025.

Apply here: www.stkildafestival.com.au/get-involved/community-group-applications

For further details, please contact the Festival team via our website.



📸 Will Hamilton-Coates

If you're between the ages of 15-25, we want to hear about your experiences attending live music in the City of Port Phillip.

We want to know what you want to see in local live music, and your ideas on how we can support the next generation of musicians.

PLUS, there are some amazing prizes to be won just for responding ❤

Take the survey here: https://haveyoursay.portphillip.vic.gov.au/youth-soundcheck

📸 Jewel Owusu at St Kilda Fest 2024. Image by Charlie Ashfield.

Good news for your Friday...

St Kilda Festival will return Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 February in 2025 with a glorious weekend of summer celebrations featuring some of the biggest names in Australian music.

As always, it's free and all ages!

Don't wait. Save the date.

Read more: https://www.stkildafestival.com.au/festival-info/news/st-kilda-festival-returns-in-2025



📸 Josh Braybrook

As National NAIDOC Week celebrations continue this week, we want to take a moment to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's enormous contribution to art, creativity, and storytelling, which has continued over tens of thousands of years.

This year's theme, 'Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud', celebrates the unyielding spirit of First Peoples' communities and invites all to stand in solidarity, amplifying the voices that have long been silenced.

We're fortunate to host incredible emerging and established First Peoples' artists on our stages at St Kilda Festival each year, and we look forward to continuing to amplify these voices for many years to come.

Happy International Women's Day ❤



📸 by:

Will Hamilton-Coates (1, 2, 7)
J Forsyth (3)
TJ Garvie (4, 9, 10)
Charlie Ashfield (5)
James Henry (6)
Josh Braybrook [8]

Miss out on St Kilda Fest merch this year?

We've got a limited number of tees, bucket hats and caps available, so grab yours before they go!

Head here: www.sound-merch.com.au/collections/st-kilda-festival

There's nothing quite like sweet merch to remember the good times we had 💕

We’re stoked to announce that the winner of the 2024 New Music Competition presented by JBL is... Mudrat!

From hundreds of entries, ten of Australia’s best music acts were selected to play the New Music Stage presented by JBL on Big Festival Sunday this year.

These talented finalists battled it out for the chance to win a coveted opening slot on the Main Stage at next year’s fest, plus $5,000 dollars cash and a $1,000 JBL gift card.

While all of them brought the house down, there can only be one winner.

A huge congratulations to MUDRAT on your well-deserved win!

We’ll catch you at St Kilda Festival 2025

Be wary of scammers! There are a large number of fake accounts pretending to be us, offering jobs, live streams etc. Make sure you check the profile handle before engaging.

You've got less than a week to vote for your favourite act who performed on the New Music Stage Presented by JBL!

All of our incredible New Music artists brought the house down, but there can only be one winner. Head to our website to vote for who you want to see on the Main Stage next year: https://www.stkildafestival.com.au/new-music-competition

BREKKY BOY. GOOD PASH. JEWEL OWUSU. LEWIS COLEMAN. MATHILDE ANNE. MUDRAT. MULGA BORE HARD ROCK. ROMANIE. TAB FAMILY. WINTEN.

VOTE NOW and go into the draw to win an epic JBL prize pack valued at over $600.



📸 Charlie Ashfield

THANK YOU!

Thank you so much for joining us over the weekend for another beautiful St Kilda Festival.

We had an unbelievable time watching some of Australia's best bands and artists, the colourful festivities that spilled out all over our lovely neighbourhood, and of course, seeing all of your smiling faces throughout the day.

We want to give a massive shout out to all of the performers, whether on stage or on the ground, and everyone else who contributed to the magic of the event in some way.

And last but not least, we want to extend a big thanks to all of our sponsors and partners who help make this Festival possible each year:

Cointreau, VIBE Soda, Indomie Australia, Betty's Burgers, Cocobella, JBL and Madison AV, The Saint Dispensary, Stomping Ground Brewing Co, Smirnoff, Creative Victoria, Channel 7, Beat Magazine, Fitzroy Street - St Kilda, Saint Kilda Beach Hotel , South East Water - Melbourne, Australia, 3KND Kool 'N' Deadly, Archie Roach Foundation, Youth FReeZA

SURVEY TIME...

Your feedback helps us make our event better each year! Head to this link to let us know your thoughts about St Kilda Festival 2024:

https://culturecounts.cc/s/QRYv8/splash

All respondents go into the draw to win our legendary live music precinct prize pack.

You'll get access to the best live music gigs this year for free in the heart of St Kilda’s live music precinct at the Hotel Esplanade, The Prince Bandroom, The Palais Theatre and more.

See you next year!



📸 Will Hamilton-Coates

Thank you so much for coming to St Kilda Festival 2024!

We had an absolute blast and hope you did too.

Until next time, my friends.

📸 Will Hamilton-Coates / TJ Garvie / Monique Pizzica / Charlie Ashfield