Splendour In The Grass Unveils 2015 Forum & Comedy Line-Ups

As with every iteration of Splendour In The Grass, there's far more on offer than just music and bacterial infections, and now we're able to divulge the line-up of entertainers destined to make you laugh and think so hard that either way you end up in tears at the Splendour Forum and Splendour Comedy Club.

Leading the charge of intellectuals headed to the Forum is former CIA counter-terrorism director John Kiriakou, who spent time as an operative in Pakistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US, and was the first one to draw attention to torture practices as official, approved policy for the agency. He'll appear via live video-link to talk all things subterfuge and shadowy, and will be joined by ex-ACT Attorney-General and lawyer Bernard Collaery, with the pair's chat being moderated by "whistleblower expert" and author Dr Suelette Dreyfus. At the pointy end of the music side of things, there will be a keynote speech from Go-Betweens co-founder Robert Forster, moderated by the ABC's Robbie Buck, about his career, influences, inspirations and creative process.

Returning to the Forum in 2015 will be Q&A live, with host Tony Jones keeping control over a typically eclectic panel of personalities including Greens co-deputy leader Senator Larissa Waters, Liberal MP Wyatt Roy, Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, Guardian columnist Van Badham, and Collaery the spy lawyer (best. job. ever). Meanwhile, Dr Angus Hervey and Tane Hunter — experts in their respective fields of environmental economy and bio-information — will cast their eyes to the technological horizon as they canvass humanity's journey from the industrial to the digital era and beyond at Future Crunch.

Those with a passion for legislative debate may be keen for Copyright: Artist's Friend Or Foe?, which boasts the world-premiere screening of You Better Take Cover — a documentary by Melburnian filmmaker Harry Hayes on the ugly court case that plagued Men At Work's Land Down Under over its use of a similar melody to an old children's rhyme. In addition to the screening, a panel will be held with triple j host Dom Alessio and featuring musician Paul Mac, tech-law boffin Dr Nic Suzor, APRA's Chris Neill, ex-triple j staffer Mel Bampton and Hayes himself.

If you're not so much for the heavy law talk but still love a good movie, you can check out the film and panel for documentary Frackman, which follows a man's five-year ordeal to take on big mining and stop the spread of fracking for coal seam gas. It features "an odd alliance of Aussie farmers, Lock The Gate activists, shock-jock Alan Jones and Steve Irwin's dad … Bob Irwin". The Frackman panel will be hosted by The Guardian's Adam Brereton and feature speakers Richard Todd, Tennant Reed, Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith and the filmmaker, Dayne "The Frackman" Pratzky.

We're not done yet — also making its return to the Splendour grounds this year is another iteration of Women Of Letters, hosted by Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire and filled out with esteemed artists such as Zia McCabe (Dandy Warhols), Steve Kilbey (The Church), Nancy Whang (LCD Soundsystem), King Khan (The King Khan & BBQ Show), Scarlett Stevens (San Cisco) and comedians Susie Youssef and Kate Dehnert.

Also on offer will be the Secular Sunday Sermon, delivered by Julian Burnside AO QC and featuring a performance from Tom Iansek, aka #1 Dads, as well as another screening/panel combo centred on Guardian cartoonist First Dog On The Moon and featuring a 30-minute live show and chats with Julian Morrow, Lisa Pryor and Van Badham, with Brereton hosting once more.

That's all just the Forum, mind you — if you're really looking for laughs, then you'll be stoked to know Splendour has accrued the biggest line-up of comedians at any music festival in Australian history. There'll be 30 funny-people from all over the country in attendance to keep your ribs tickled across Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Just feast your eyes on these names:

Celia Pacquola, Steen Raskopoulos, Matt Okine, Tommy Little, Alex Dyson, Lewis Hobba, Veronica Milsom, Michael Hing, Bart Freebairn, Susie Youssef, Tommy Dassalo, Demi Lardner, Dilruk Jayasinha, Toby Halligan, Greg Larsen, Stuart Daulman, Genevieve Fricker, Cyrus Bezyan, John Conway, Jonathan Schuster, Henry Stone, Jack Druce, Kate Dehnert, Penny Greenhalgh, Bishara Marzook, Cameron James, Alex Ward, Aaron Gocs, Cameron Duggan and Angus Gordon.

Damn, right? This festival just keeps looking better and better.

Splendour In The Grass hits the North Byron Parklands from 24-26 July. For more information, see our dedicated event page under the Festivals tab.