Armin Van Buuren To Head Up Australia's Hypersonic Festival

Just days after teasing the launch of a new EDM festival in Australia, the nascent Hypersonic has given audiences a taste of what to expect by announcing its first headline act.

Iconic Dutch DJ and producer Armin van Burren will be leading the charge this year, performing at both the Sydney and Melbourne legs of Hypersonic. Those events will be at the Sydney Showgrounds on Saturday, November 29th, and the following day at Melbourne Showgrounds on Sunday, November 30th.

First teased last week, Hypersonic was hyped as another “multi-genre” music festival in Australia, with the supposed focus on EDM, according to posts shared on social media.

“Introducing hypersonic: The ground-breaking multi-genre festival you need in your life. Step into summer with hypersonic,” an Instagram caption reads.

Given its name and apparent musical focus, hype quickly spread on social media, with suggestions that event may have ties to the beloved, dearly missed Stereosonic Music Festival.

As it turns out, the ties are quite strong given that Hypersonic is produced by Australian trance event company Symbiotic, led by CEO Richie McNeill and fellow co-director Janette Bishara.

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A post shared by hypersonic festival (@hypersonicfestival.au)

If McNeill's name sounds familiar, it might be because of his own musical history as Richie Rich, or it could be with is work as the co-founder of both Hardware and Stereosonic. Symbiotic has also toured numerous acts in the electronic genre over the years, alongside presenting events such as Dreamstate USA, Transmission Festival, and Festival X.

In the comments of its social post, Symbiotic teased a big event was on the cards. “We've brought you HYPERDOME, a 360° visual experience, HYPERAVE, a hard, fast, dirty rave,” they wrote. “And now, in collaboration with Hardware, we bring you the game changer: hypersonic. The multi-genre music festival with the biggest line-up we've ever put together.”

The original Stereosonic festival ran from 2007 until 2015, swiftly becoming one of Australia’s most anticipated music festivals each year, with events in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne.

Across its multiple-year history, Stereosonic brought out acts such as Tiesto, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris, Avicii, Diplo, and more. Fittingly, its final event in 2015 was headlined by none other than van Buuren.

Hypersonic has also offered up ticket info for interested audiences, with pre-purchase tickets on offer until 11:59pm on Wednesday, August 20th. Presale tickets will then go on sale from 12pm on Thursday, August 21st and run for 24 hours until the general on-sale time of 12pm on Friday, August 22nd.

Hypersonic 2025

Armin van Buuren

With more to come…

Saturday, November 29th – Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney, NSW
Sunday, November 30th – Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne, VIC