When the team behind Mode Festival first turned Cockatoo Island into a Berlin-esque dancefloor back in 2022, it marked a new era for Sydney’s harbour-based venue. The former penal colony has hosted large-scale events – from major art exhibitions to sunset serenade sessions – for years, but Mode brought a new, edgy energy to the island’s huge, haunting buildings. Now, just weeks after the third iteration of Mode brought the post-industrial site to life for its biggest party yet, Cockatoo Island has announced details of something even bigger. From Saturday February 8 to Sunday February 9 2025, Cockatoo Island will transform into an obscurely beautiful festival site for two days of dance music, immersive art and abstract live performances.
Brought to life by some of Sydney’s favourite event producers (including Jody Coker, who’s responsible for the annual Gorgeous Presents party at the MCA rooftop), The Nowhere Festival will take over the entire island for a creative weekend of music in the middle of the world’s most well-known harbour. Four carefully curated stages – connected the former-shipyard’s labyrinth of shadowy tunnels – will play host to a 50-strong line-up of international and Australian live acts and DJs, with a focus on house, techno and electronic music.
Global electronic acts including Carl Craig, Moodymann, Marcel Dettmann and Adiel will join Sydney favourites like Adi Toohey, Barney Kato and Mad Racket DJs for two days of dancing, with the cavernous turbine hall and stunning harbour-front stages offering wildly contrasting dance floor settings.
On the art front, Sydney-based visual artist Danny Willians will be working on a new piece of work as the festival plays out in real time, and abstract performers (including Kazuma Onishi and miss behave) will perform across the weekend.
Sydneysiders can drop in for a day of dancing on the Saturday or Sunday, or go all-in and camp on the island – a limited number of camping tickets will be made available via The Nowhere Festival website.
One-day tickets start at $119, and will go on sale at 9am on November 5, 2024. You can learn more and sign up for the waitlist over here, and you can get in the mood at The Nowhere Festival launch party – taking place on December 31 at the MCA rooftop (tickets available here).
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