- 4 days
- 2 towns
- 300 records pressed
- Free all-ages Sunday
DINGO Music Arts Festival runs its very first edition from Thursday, 8 October, spreading across Byron Bay and Bangalow in the NSW Northern Rivers until Sunday night. Hiatus Kaiyote, Kokoroko from the UK, Rich Medina from the US, Coco Maria from Mexico and Nai Palm lead the bill, with Miss Kaninna, Harry James Angus and Barney McCall also playing. With a week to go, the full program is out, and it’s mostly about what happens between the sets.
How the Weekend Works
DINGO opens at the Great Northern Hotel in Byron on Thursday, then moves to Bangalow for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, before heading back to Byron for a closing party at the Beach Hotel on Sunday night. Friday and Saturday tickets get you into the festival’s Bangalow music venues, including the A Hall, where Close Counters bring their live band on Saturday. The opening and closing parties are ticketed separately from the Bangalow pass; day tickets are available, and Sunday is free.
A Record Made and Pressed in a Week
The standout is the DINGO Vinyl Project. In the days before the festival, Frollen Music Library is recording instrumental songs at SAE. Producers then build new tracks and remixes out of those recordings, and Suitcase Records has been handed the job of pressing a limited run of 300 records in time for Sunday’s closing party. SAE students are filming the whole thing, so there should be proof either way.
Side Quest What Is a Camera Obscura?
A camera obscura is a darkened room with a small hole or lens in one wall, which projects an upside-down image of the outside world onto the opposite wall. It’s the ancestor of the photographic camera, and the name is Latin for “dark chamber”. DINGO has one in Piccabeen Park.
Banquets, Clouds and a Deep-Listening Room
On Friday, Bundjalung chef Mindy Woods of Karkalla leads The Bush Banquet, a long-table meal at The Lumber Yard built around native ingredients, Country and culture, with proceeds supporting The Returning. On Saturday, The Salty Mangrove hosts a communal banquet at the Moller Pavilion, with music running through the evening.
The arts program moves around town as much as the music does. Anouska Gammon Co are doing serial theatre, there are mobile hip-hop cyphers, and Piccabeen Park gets a camera obscura and a deep-listening room. Up on the A Hall mezzanine, Lake Kelly turns the space into Loco Love HEAVEN, a world of clouds, angels, chocolates and harp. There are also ambient sets paired with tea ceremonies and talks at NOWE Studio about rhythm, culture and creativity in the Northern Rivers.
Festival director Si Jay Gould says the idea is that “a festival should be more than music sold as a commodity”, and the program is built around that idea.
Sunday Is Free
Sunday’s Big Bang is a free, all-ages community day in Bangalow, built around local artists and ensembles including Mohilaa, Versace Boys, Mylee Grace, Tropicales and the Northern Rivers Conservatorium Youth Jazz Orchestra, plus a gathering of choirs. Hiatus Kaiyote then close the weekend at the Beach Hotel in Byron.
DINGO hasn’t shared accessibility information yet. We’ll update this if more info becomes available.
Tickets
| What | Where | Tickets |
|---|---|---|
| Opening party | Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay (Thursday) | Ticketed separately |
| Festival days | Bangalow venues (Friday and Saturday) | Festival pass or day tickets |
| Big Bang community day | Bangalow (Sunday) | Free, all ages |
| Closing party with Hiatus Kaiyote | Beach Hotel, Byron Bay (Sunday night) | Ticketed separately |
Tickets and the full program are at dingofestival.com.
By the time Hiatus Kaiyote finish on Sunday night, 300 records that didn’t exist a week ago should be in the room.
- Festival Art project
- Chill Chaos
Stay unruly.
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