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Australia’s new Festival X to debut this year

Festival X, the new Australian touring festival co-founded by Richie McNeill’s Hardware, ex-Stereosonic promoter Onelove and Live Nation Australasia, is set to launch in three cities this November.

The festival, announced last August but ultimately postponed until 2019, fills a slot left in the Australian festival calendar by dance music event Stereosonic, co-founded by McNeill and Onelove’s Frank Cotela, which at its peak could shift nearly 300,000 tickets across five shows.

In its first year, Festival X will visit open-air venues in Brisbane (RNA Showgrounds, 29 November), Sydney (Sydney Showgrounds, 30 November) and Melbourne (Melbourne Showgrounds, 1 December), “showcasing the best artists from across the world and within Australia to fans right across the Eastern seaboard”.

Headliners are Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren and Lil Pump, with other performers including Steve Aoki, Blueface and Alison Wonderland.

Hardware Corp founder McNeill comments: “As they say, good things come to those who wait. We’re super excited to be working with Onelove again and the Live Nation team to put together an incredible mix of music in the electronic, pop and urban realms. There are so many amazing artists right now and some amazing creatives we have been working with.

“Something very special is happening here and we’re super-excited about it.”

Adds Cotela: “As we kick off the summer festival season in Australia once more, we hope to create an event that showcases entertainment on the scale we’re known internationally for, with massive artists, epic event production and a focus firmly on fun.

“We’re super excited to be working with Onelove again and the Live Nation team”

“Australia’s most successful electronic music promoters teaming up with the world’s largest touring company can only mean a great day for everyone. Festival X is looking ‘xtra-large’ and we can’t wait.”

Festival X represents McNeill and Cotela’s first collaboration with a major multinational since Totem Onelove Group, owned by the now-defunct SFX Entertainment, was placed into bankruptcy in May 2016. At the time, Onelove was owed US$10.7 million by SFX.

Stereosonic was effectively axed in 2015, after the 2016 edition of the festival was put on indefinite hiatus following SFX’s bankruptcy.

The new festival is organised by Onelove Music Group, a separate entity not connected with SFX.

Formed as a collaboration between industry leaders and teams behind some of Australia’s leading festivals,

Roger Field, CEO of Live Nation Australasia, says: “Festival X is set to wow Australian fans with the best local and international talent, while showcasing a new and exciting festival experience. X is the ultimate pre-summer party fans have been waiting for and deserve. Australia, get ready…”

 


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