The 20th Anniversary Gum Ball is shaping up to be a beauty in 2025 with the release of another seventeen specially selected bands, lined up to play the prestigious oversized party in the Hunter Valley bush across three days and nights, 25th, 26th & 27th April 2025, with an additional ‘warm up’ concert on Thursday 24th.
Showcasing their pension for eclectic programming full of discovery and diversity, Dashville is pleased to welcome one of Australia’s greatest activist hip-hop groups, The Herd, alongside one of Australia’s greatest songwriters and musical exports Liz Stringer. Brisbane folk legends, The Gin Club will make a triumphant reunion, and from the US, Vapors of Morphine will spark excitement for fans of 90s US alternative rock act Morphine.
Other choice cuts making their Gum Ball debut from around the country include Victorian alt-rock bands The Pretty Littles, Human Noise and the folk party vibes of Ukulele Death Squad, Sydney’s 70’s rock n roll vibes of Large Mirage, South Australian’s indie folk Axe & The Ivory, Northern Territory desert hip hop troop Dem Mob, Tasmania’s ethereal alt-pop Holiday Mystics, Perth’s power pop of Rineheartsand Queenslands favourite children’s feast, Junior Burger.
Local-based acts joining the lineup include Midway, Genie Loci and Betty.
The Thursday evening warm-up party will feature the return of Dashville’s prodigal son, Skyscraper Stan & The Commission Flats.
The Herd | Liz Stringer | Vapors Of Morphine (US) | The Gin Club | The Pretty Littles
Skyscraper Stan & The Commission Flats | Dem Mob | Large Mirage
Ukulele Death Squad | Betty | Axe & The Ivory | Human Noise | Junior Burger
Rinehearts | Holiday Mystics | Genie Loci | Midway
These acts will join the aforementioned,
Ben Lee | The Peep Tempel | Grace Cummings | The Stems
Elana Stone | Kim Churchill | 78 Saab | Karen Lee Andrews | Ripple Effect Band
Boing Boing | Johnston City | Jack Davies & The Bush Chooks | Vanilla Gorilla
Playlunch | Claude Hay & The Kung Fu Mustard | Quality Used Cars
Camino Gold | Delivery | Fungas | Goon Gremlins
—————————————–
5 December 2024
One of Australia’s most cherished cultural escapes, The Gum Ball, celebrates a very special 20th anniversary in 2025, running across three days and nights, 25th, 26th & 27th April 2025.
A supreme live music and art experience held on the majestic bushlands of Dashville (Wonnarua) Lower Belford, Hunter Valley, NSW, the festivals survival is a remarkable feat in today’s world, clearly earning its praise as an institution in both the local and nationwide music scene.
And today, the organisers are pleased to announce the first half of the live music program, twenty acts, which pulls artists from all ends of Australia and when pieced together with the next twenty (due in early 2025), amounts to a fantastic aural journey across a myriad of genres, styles and moments.
Please welcome to the stage as part of the first round of acts,
Ben Lee | The Peep Tempel | Grace Cummings | The Stems
Elana Stone | Kim Churchill | 78 Saab | Karen Lee Andrews
The Ripple Effect | Boing Boing | Johnston City
Jack Davies & The Bush Chooks | Vanilla Gorilla | Playlunch
Claude Hay & The Kung Fu Mustard | Quality Used Cars
Camino Gold | Delivery | Fungas | Goon Gremlins
With the additional prelude concert on Thursday 24th April, The Gum Ball is an incredible live music escape, designed for all ages and inclinations, boasting an enviable reputation as one of the best laid-back festivals in existence.
A lot has happened since that clear crisp morning in 2004, when an enthusiastic young Matt ‘Magpie Johnston, fresh from a solo around the world adventure, sat at the foot of his parents’ bed asking for permission to host a festival in the front yard of his family property. It’s a story of triumph through adversity, as Kev Carmody wrote, “from little things big things grow”. So with a vision in sight and the blinkers on, a twenty year old music enthusiast set about his goal to create a festival with the catch phrase ‘enjoy music the way nature intended’. With the support of friends and family Magpie pushed through some pretty full on physical, mental and financial hurdles, through passion, tenacity and DIY doggedness, to build not only a festival, but also a supreme place of gathering.
Dashville, aptly named after Johnston’s father, Dash, is an incredible space. This 3000-capacity live music venue and campground, which harnesses the natural landscape, flourishing through age old permaculture principles, provides something truly amazing and wholesome for the music loving community.