Narara Music Festival To End 33-Year Hiatus In May 2017

A long-dormant Australian event, the Narara Music Festival, has announced its official comeback date, bringing to an end a 33-year hiatus since its until-now-final iteration in 1984.

According to organisers, the event will make its return at the Central Coast's Forest Of Tranquility, in Ourimbah, on Saturday 6 May next year, in keeping with its tradition of never actually having been held in Narara. There are no line-up details yet, but expect a hearty blend of rock, blues and psychedelia to flood to bill.

"There will be no folk, no alt-country, no electronica… just rock and blues," organisers wrote on Facebook in early April.

That won't be the only point of difference on which Narara sets itself apart; with the express aim of capturing "the essence of the old-school festival, where music and the love of music created an energy all of its own", the event will have no market stalls (except for a merch tent) or other non-musical activities — "You can leave your yoga mat at home," the organisers say — but will, naturally, feature a licensed bar and food options.

The original Narara Music Festival events burned brightly and quickly, taking over the Central Coast locality of Somersby twice more than 30 years ago — firstly in 1983, when it was held over the Australia Day long weekend and featured The Angels, Australian Crawl, The Choirboys, The Church, Cold Chisel, INXS, Margaret Roadknight, Men At Work and Uncanny X-Men, and again in 1984. This second festival was again held over the Australia Day long weekend and expanded the line-up considerably — Talking Heads, Mental As Anything, Simple Minds, Eurythmics, Hoodoo Gurus, Def Leppard, Sunnyboys and many more joined the ranks along with returning acts such as INXS and Australian Crawl — but failed to recapture the success of its predecessor, smaller ticket sales and (presumably) a more expensive bill leaving the event something of a folkloric footnote until now.

The revival is certain to change that, and organisers have announced that there will be a band application process for the 2017 event opening through the festival's Facebook page in August. Selected acts will have one other hurdle to jump on the way to the stage — each band that plays in the festival will be asked to play two songs from the original two Narara line-ups as the final two songs of their set, so that's worth considering.

For more information on the 2017 Narara Music Festival, band applications and any other details, see the event's Facebook page.