It seems that with the madness of Splendour In The Grass over the weekend, pretty much every Aussie live music lovers is going crazy with excitement, hell even the artists themselves mentioned how great the fest was. 

With the winter in collective our rear-view mirror, we’re now staring down the long barrel of incredible music festivals that will litter our warmer months. July has been particularly laden with great news on the music festival front, with the arrival of three brand-spanking new boutique festivals, three killer Aussie music fest announcements not to mention the return of three adored classic festivals.

Before the giving month of July closes out, we’ve got five more festivals that are worth hammering the piggy bank for.

First up we’ve got the incredible NYE On The Hill which is back for its second year of operation, organised by the guys behind the tight-knit community of The Hills Are Alive!

Naturally, the festival takes place from 30th December until the 1st January. The inaugural sold out event saw the likes of Loon Lake, Remi and Hayden Calnin ring in the new in style. Promising cool vibes once again, NYE On The Hill alludes to an amazing lineup of up and coming artists, as well as older adored musicians.

What makes this event so special besides it’s surreal farm setting 20-minutes from Wonthaggi, is the limited ticket sales, which sits at the 2,000 cap, ensuring the sentiment of community is achieved, because let’s face it – who wants to spend NYE with thousands upon thousands of drunk fools?

The lineup and ticket sales are available as of August 13. Head to the official website for more info.

Shifting focus to the West coast is Perth’s all day CoLAB Festival, which will be held at University of Western Australia, on Saturday 29th November 2014.

This is a brand new event that has been described as “a one-of-a-kind, creative arts and music festival” that promises to feature a stunning array of artists, food innovators, music industry representatives and university clubs and leaders, and of course, some of the best live Aussie music kicking around.

The lineup itself is crazy, including: Hermitude, Midnight Juggernauts, The Jungle Giants, The Kite String Tangle, Sable, Indian Summer, Gang of Youths, The Creases, Citizen Kay, Triple J Unearthed Winner with more to be announced. Sounds pretty bloody good, right?

New South Wales also cut a piece of the shiny new festival experience with the arrival of Dungog Festival at The Hunter Valley.

This isn’t your stock-standard festival, with the entire township of Dungog being taken over for three days of creative appreciation. Taking place from August 28 – 31, this event caters for just about any art lover, showcasing film, food, music.

The music contingent is more than healthy, headlined by legendary You Am I frontman Tim Rogers. In addition to this, The Paper Kites, Husky and Meg Mac will be blowing the tiny rural NSW town away.

In what can only be described as the best festival name ever, The Simpsons fanatics behind Brisbane’s  The Blurst of Times have confirmed the event’s return for Saturday 18th of October.

Spread over The Brightside, The Brightside carpark and The Zoo, last year’s event saw a pretty damn good array of local talent that included Violent Soho, Velociraptor, Major Leagues, Bored Nothing, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, The Cairos, Witch Hats, and Drunk Mums, which emphatically suggests these organisers definitely have their finger on the trend button.

The team have teased that there will be 28 killer acts for this year’s event, which will be revealed on the same date tickets are released, Monday 11th August.

Concluding our festival wrap-up sees Queensland kill it again, with the Sunshine Coast’s Caloundra Music Festival making it’s triumphant 2014 return.

Held from the 3rd – 6th of October, this is an Aussie favourite that hosts an array of brilliant musicians. This year’s edition will see the likes of The John Butler Trio, Tina Arena, Wolfmother, Pete Murray, Ball Park Music plus many more than can be viewed here.

Performing on picturesque coastal stages, this diamond of the north bares the label “sun, surf and soul” – could there be a better epitomisation of the Australian spirit?

3-Day Early Bird tickets are flying for $173.00 whilst 1-day tickets are set at $81.00.

NYE On The Hill 2014 – 2015

Tuesday 30th December – Thursday 1st January, “The Farm”

Lineup revealed Wednesday 6th August
Tickets on sale Wednesday 13th August  www.nyeonthehill.com.au

CoLab Festival 2014

Saturday 29th November – The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA

Midnight Juggernauts, The Jungle Giants, The Kite String Tangle, Sable, Indian Summer, Gang of Youths, The Creases, Citizen Kay, Triple J Unearthed Winner + more

Tickets and info www.colabfestival.com.au

Dungog Festival 2014

Thursday 28th August – Sunday 31st August, Dungog NSW

Tim Rogers, The Paper Kites, Husky and Meg Mac

Tickets and info www.dungogfestival.com.au

It Was The Blurst Of Times Festival 2014

Saturday 18th October, The Brightside, 27 Warner St. Fortitude Valley & The Zoo 711 Ann St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane QLD

Lineup revealed Monday 11th August

Caloundra Music Festival 2014

Friday 3rd October – Monday 6th October, Kings Beach Park, De Vene Avenue, Kings Beach, Caloundra QLD

John Butler Trio, Pete Murray, Tina Arena, Wolfmother, Ball Park Music + many more

Tickets and info www.caloundramusicfestival.com

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