Sunbury Pop Festival Reborn For 50th Anniversary Event

Sunbury Pop Festival (or Sunbury Rock Festival) is back.

This year, the Hume City Council is commemorating the 50th anniversary of Australia’s most influential music festival by bringing back the event this April.

Not just another event, the Sunbury Pop Festival 50th anniversary celebrations will honour artists who performed at the original Sunbury editions of the ‘70s as well as commemorate the event’s incomparable legacy by giving a platform to newer Australian talent.

Sunbury ’24 has locked in headliners Ross Wilson And The Peaceniks, as well as rock icons Richard Clapton, Joe Camilleri And The Black Sorrows, Madder Lake, a reunited Matt Taylor and Phil Manning (from Chain), Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie’s Skyhooks Show, Margret Roadknight, and Spectrum will bring the legacy of the OG festival back to Sunbury, while Emma Donovan, Karen Lee-Andrews and Sheldon Riley are also set to perform.

The legacy event will take place on Saturday, 13 April, from 2 pm until 9 pm at The Nook on Vaughan Street in Sunbury. Hosted by the Hume City Council, tickets to the event are affordable and limited – anyone under 18 can get in for free, while adults over 18 only have to pay $30 (plus a booking fee). You can find tickets via Eventbrite. Tickets are selling fast, so get in quickly.

The Hume City Council’s Sunbury Pop Festival celebrations don’t stop with a music event; they’ve also organised exhibitions and public programs for the community to get involved.

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Some of the fun listed on the council’s website include Learn to play the harmonica, Crafternoon Surprise: Musical Instruments, Family Trivia Night, and, of course, a screening of Sunbury ’72. You can keep up with more information as it rolls in here.

Sunbury 1973 was held on January 27, 28 & 29, with a three-day ticket costing $8. It was a tribal gathering, with an estimated 30,000 people in the crowd. The festival pulled in 40,000 people in 1972, although figures vary amongst various sources, some mentioning 60,000 punters.