Homebake was an annual

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup (with the occasional artist from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

). The festival was first held on 3 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of

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. The same year saw a second event held at the grounds of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. The festival returned in January 1998 as an East Coast event happening in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, the Gold Coast and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

. In December of the same year, it was held again in Sydney this time at the

Domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined ** Domain of definition of a partial function ** Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * ...

. In late 1999 the event went on the road again, but this time to only the Gold Coast and Sydney. In 2000 the festival reverted to just Sydney, and was held at the

every December until 2012. Tickets for the festival regularly sold out in advance, the fastest sell out was the 2006 event which sold out on the first day of sale, but this was then dwarfed with the 2008 show selling all 20,000 tickets in less than 10 minutes. The 2007 Homebake took place on Saturday 8 December, once again at The Domain. It was announced that the event would be 18+ for the first time in its history. Despite some protests, Homebake organisers explained on Triple J's ''Hack' program that each year the all ages liquor licence was becoming harder to obtain, and compared to their research showing that attendance for the event by underagers was between 5 and 8% influenced the decision to go 18+. The last Homebake was held in 2012, and the following year's event was unexpectedly cancelled. The festival has not been held since, and as of now, it is unlikely to be resurrected.

Artists lineups by year

1996

Byron Bay

University of Sydney

1998

January - Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne

December - Sydney

1999

Sydney and Gold Coast

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Rowland S. Howard Rowland Stuart Howard (24 October 1959 – 30 December 2009) was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career. Early life Rowland Stua ...

was advertised to play but was forced to cancel citing health concern

Dappled Cities played in his allotted timeslot.

2010

On 25 August 2010, the organisers of Homebake announced the festival would not take place in 2010, and would instead return in 2011. The organisers cited "not being able to have the 'planets align' to a standard we feel appropriate" as a reason for cancelling the festival in 2010.

2011

2012

Event organisers announced that the 2012 Homebake would be a "Global" edition. While the line-up for the event, scheduled for 8 December 2012, is predominantly

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologic ...

n, American band Blondie has been selected as the headlining act. Kimbra, Something For Kate, Hilltop Hoods, Sonic Animation, and Birds of Tokyo are some of the other performing artists.

After 2012

The event was cancelled in 2013. Organizers acknowledged that there was a hiatus for 2014. It is unlikely the festival will ever return.

References

External links

Homebake official websiteHomebake official Myspace pageHomebake 2011 review "Homebake Festival: Classic Aussie Rockers Still Have the Stuff!" - Rocker Magazine
{{Music of Australia Rock festivals in Australia Concert tours Summer festivals Recurring events established in 1996