The endless summer has been continuing down here in the bay with just enough rain to turn all the hills green with envy again at our third and final round of artists.

Fresh additions to the already colourful mixtape are the soulful rock infusers BONJAH, the fiendishly talented Woohoo Revue, country ballad troubadours Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes, dirty blues royalty Palace of the King (featuring Tim Henwood – the Androids, Superjesus, Rogue Traders), the rambunctious rambling Miserable Little Bastards, Best Male Vocalist (2013 Australian Blues Music Awards) Claude Hay, sonic texture craftsman Matt Kelly & String Quartet, psychedelic groove rock folktronic eargasm Lamarama, the mellow yet macabre Sideshow Brides, blues wonderboy Alister Turrill, kick arse mayhem creators The Bad Brigade, jangly 60?s reverb soaked guitar masters The Attics, rhythm and blues prodigy Tre Samuels, crowd-wowing father daughter duo Garry & Georgia Rose, plus local charmers The Apollo Bay Choir, Ukuholics, and our own fuzz lords Electric Filth.

So get excited! The lanterns are being hung up, the ginger beer is brewing and the autumn surf conditions are looking mighty fine.

Artists by day are now available on the Facebook Page and our festival App will be up here shortly. Tickets and Camping packages are being snapped up like hot chips on a picnic table and of course the festival shuttle will be running half hourly between Marengo and Skenes Creek. Twelve days til Twenty One!

See you soon!

ABMF Crew

With the countdown well and truly on the lineup that we chose for you aaages ago is starting to make airwaves! Among the many we have featured checkout:

Kingfisha and Dubmarine have just finished a sold out run after their huge set at Womad and are now getting a lot of love on the airwaves with their new single “Digging for Fire.”

Kingfisha – Digging for Fire

Future Soul groovers Hiatus Kaiyote have had the most mammoth rise and now have a souled out debut US tour to add to string of achievements in their short time together.

Hiatus Kaiyote – Lace Skull

More updates to come but in the meantime don’t forget to check out some of the accommodation bargains that includes ridiculously cheap camping and some great house deals such as:

Get 6 people together and stay in this house for $201 p/person (kids free).
Price includes: Weekend Festival Pass, Friday and Saturday Accommodation, Midday checkout Sunday.

OR

Get four people together and stay 3 nights here for $285p/person including weekend festival passes.  Located in Skenes Creek this is serviced by the free festival shuttle so no need to drive anywhere!

For more information Call CJ Keane now on: (03) 5237 6322 

Till soon, stay well!
ABMF Crew

It is all getting exciting here on the the good ship Apollo. With the countdown on to that weekend in April we are very excited to announce our second ’round of artists!

Heading up the list are the original masters of the funk groove moves SKUNKHOUR, who will be reshaping their original lineup for an Apollo bay exclusive! Joining them will be world trampsing troubadour JORDIE LANE, roots supergroup the LIVINGSTONE DAISIES (featuring Liz Stringer, Van & Cal Walker , and Michael Barclay – Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls), the undefinable jazziness of KATIE WIGHTON, acoustic genre bendering powerhouses HUSSY HICKS, barefooted rock monster MARSHALL OKELL & THE PRIDE, down from the hills will come the BRIAGOLONG BUSH BAND, and from the other hills festival sharpwit fiddler PETE DENAHY, the yelly beardy poetic and lovely RYAN COFFEY, jigsaw of soul AL PARKINSON, progressively dreamy WARCHIEF, slayers of the wang jazz fest BLUE EYES CRY, moustached freak of the step DJ EDDY, the man who eats instruments MAL WEBB, the sharply harmonious MEN IN SUITS will be back along with the ridiculously requested worldy OKA fresh from a huge rainbow set!

This is of course on top of the already bursting first round, and there is another to go!

We also have a super kids area, Yoga, Music Workshops, wholesome food and beverages, free use of the beach and much much more!

Grab your tickets and friend and help us celebrate our 21st in style!

ABMF Crew

With the school holidays but a distant memory for the easily distracted, work here in ABay fest HQ is getting down to the business of fun, and what fun it ’twill be!

If you haven’t already heard our first round announcement check out the Artist page here to have a listen. Some of these acts have been generating a huge buzz over the summer season, and with many of our acts from last year being picked for countless festivals we’ve placed ourselves firmly at the start of the festival calendar. So you’ll see them here first without wink of a nod!

Early Albatross tickets have been snapped up but the good thing is Late Summer Seal tickets are in season (for last years Early Albatross price) and there are some amazing deals for camping and accom to be found on those pages.

Being our 21st year and knowing that many of you have been coming down here for a long time we’d like to invite you to contribute to our photo wall. Anything that is remotely related to the festival and brings back the right memories for you. Below is one sent in from Tricia and John of them getting ready for the fourth Apollo Bay Fest. Hit up our Facebook page or send them in by return email.

We’d also like to welcome aboard the crew at greatoceanroad.com. They will be hosting an app page for us this year amongst an amazing amount of other information on Apollo Bay and surrounds. To download their local knowledge for free in the form of an app visit their website here.

From now on updates will go regular with the next round of artists, free downloads, and a very full program to tell you about!

ABMF Crew

Hello all, and welcome to the first Apollo Bayfest Newsletter for the upcoming 21st annual 2013 event. Big hello to the overwhelming number of new subscribers!

Early Albatross tickets for the Apollo Bay Music Festival are now on sale!

Some exciting news on who’s playing will be quietly announced to subscribers (you) and likers of our Facebook page in the coming weeks. As per usual we will be featuring the best performers in all genres and some exciting additions from overseas, along with familiar faces, and a couple back by overwhelming demand!

There will be some exciting additions to our 21st event. The Mechanics Hall and The Star of the Sea will both run on the friday night and we will feature an additional stage in the main precinct.

The very popular kids area has been expanded to include more activities and hang out space, and the Bar and Food area will of course feature some of the finest local nosh and slosh (not the best of descriptions I know, but it rhymes), in the newly designed, funkiest of beachside locales.

In addition to filming and paparazzing the performers we will be recording most of the sets at the 2013 event so that we can remember our 21st and you can say “there I was!”

Just like last year we have no corporate sponsors and the event will not be oversold. Early Albatross tickets are $125 each, all up this year (until December 24). No hidden fees, all bells and whistles. Kids 15 and under are free with a parent/guardian (two per ticket), and 16-17 year olds will once again have access to the spectacularly valued Weekend Youth Pass for $40.

Being a long weekend of sorts don’t forget to check out what else the area has to offer. Be it mountain biking, Otway flying, Apostling (while you still can!), Lighthouse climbing, rainforest walking, or just hanging at the beach with fish and chips, there is heaps to do!

Some great Camping/Accommodation packages are available that include tickets. These are all serviced by the free festival shuttle bus that runs half hourly between Skenes Creek, Apollo Bay, and Marengo on all days of the festival.

From all in Apollo Bay Fest HQ, thanks again for all your support and stay tuna for more news!

ABMF CREW

The highly anticipated flight of the Early Albatross is nearly upon us. Its nose/beak will be put to the north westerly on October 22 at approximately 6.30am (weather permitting). These tix will be offered to subscribers and facebookers first so if you haven’t already signed up, hit the form to your right of the page and do so.

Some very exciting news be following!

Arrgh!
ABMF Crew 

A big thank you to all of you who came and supported the fest this year. It has been truly humbling!

Please hit up the artists pages and show them some love as I think you’ll agree, they were amazing!

We’ll tweak the good ship Apollo to fix any leaks and tie up loose ends and we look forward to seeing you all again soon!

ABMF Crew

With only weeks to go before it’s all on things at Festival HQ are getting exciting!

We are pleased to announce that this year the festival will feature boutique beer from Forrest Brewery, Flying Brick Cider from Leura Park estate in Portarlington, and Wine from Bay of Apostles. Combined with a wide selection of local food and delicacies you’ll be set for the weekend.

All Early Albatross tickets are currently being sent out after they closed last week. For any queries on ticketing please visit our FAQ page. Second ’round weekend passes are still available here and all day passes will be up on the site next week.

Don’t forget to visit our accommodation page to check out some of the great deals on offer to suit all budgets.

This weeks free download “Alice Dwyte” is taken from the brilliant new album “Cheap Romance” by Sabrina & the Red Vans. Go here to get yours.

ABMF Crew