We all know Melbourne is the festival city. We love them! We have a festival for essentially anything. St Kilda Festival is one of the most iconic festivals for not only St Kilda, but it draws a crowd from all over Melbourne, Victoria, interstate and even international visitors.
Given the current circumstances, it is a great time to look back the years past and the history that it has. This will keep us pumped for the 2022 St Kilda Festival.
We were lucky enough to squeeze this year’s 2020 St Kilda Festival in before we were all house bound. Which was especially lucky as it was the 40th anniversary of the Melbourne’s largest free festival!
First established in 1980, the St Kilda Festival was originally launched to shake the stigma that St Kilda had gained from the media relating to the ‘underground’ activity around that time.
Since then it has become a celebration of arts, culture and St Kilda music, focusing on Australia’s homegrown talent from armatures to well-known artists. Live music has been at the forefront of St Kilda for decades.
The St Kilda Festival has seen the likes of The Black sorrows, Paul Kelly, John butler Trio, The cat empire and many more Australian music legends, all playing on the St Kilda Beachfront, mainstage.
This vibrant Festival is held in February each year and has swiftly become a staple in Melbourne’s major event calendar. So I think it’s safe to say that it will be dearly missed in 2021!
The St Kilda Festival is a magnet for St Kilda tourism in its most beautiful time of the year.
The diversity of demographics that it appeals to is unlike any other major festival. From St Kilda locals and veterans of the Melbourne arts scene, to high school teens that love to be amongst it and stay out on a school night!
I’ve been a St Kilda local for 5 years now and I look forward to this event every year. Captain Baxter and Republica are right in the thick of the festivities on the last day of the festival. Being next to the main stage, it is the perfect spot to drop in for a drink and a boogie to our fab DJs that play through the day. I may be bias but it’s my favourite place to be and we hold the party of the year as part of the Festival! The real action is always on the St Kilda Sea Baths Rooftop on sunset. You will never get a better Sunday Session.
I’m a complete extravert and love to be around people. I remember so fondly the feeling of the summer sun on my (sun protected) face, vodka lime & soda in hand and listening to good live music with friends. St Kilda Festival is a quintessential event that has certainly changed St Kilda and brought the inviting, happy and inclusive beachside suburb to life.
