Now that the NYE dilemma is done, we can start actually getting on with 2018. But what did you end up doing? Were you at one of the handful of new year festivals around the country? Maybe you have an annual house party? Perhaps you paid top dollar for a few hours at a club plus a decent view of fireworks you wont remember in a few weeks? Maybe you did the last minute scramble where you thought you might actually miss the turnover of the clock?
Whatever, you did do, New Years Eve is usually a costly experience. Most places know they can charge you a shitload and you definitely don’t want to be the one ‘just having a chill one’ when the hand strikes midnight. In Sydney this year we saw the first ever NYE In The Park, a one day festival where tickets started at merely $60 if you got in early. Seriously. Put together by the guys at Falcona and Hot Dub Time Machine, the 2017 debut saw nearly 10,000 people through the gates – pretty bloody good for a first gig.
So – is it possible? Can you actually venture outside of a house party and not fork out into the high hundreds for a good NYE? This is how the NYE In The Park guys did it.
Cheap Tix
We all love the Falls, Beyond The Valley, Lost Paradise and the like, but sometimes it’s just too exxy after you’ve been travelling all year and are about to move into a new place. Not only that put you need to have a solid little crew to do a three to four day bender with. As mentioned, tickets to NYE In The Park started at around $60, rose every few weeks and the most you would have paid at final release was about $120 – not a damn bad shout at all.
It meant if you were committed, you saved a tonne. And even if you were more late and sporadic, you only had to fork out the price of entry + one drink at some overrated club full of average people with no space, anyways. For the price you got a pretty good setup, with plenty of food and drink choices (admittedly festival prices but how you going to beat that?) And also plenty of room. If you wanted to mosh, you could. If you wanted to hang at the back with max space, that was also an easy option, too.
Solid Lineup
Now for a hundred or so bucks, you normally might get a B to C grade DJ appearing at a club in most cities. And the fact is they only play for 45-60 minutes around midnight let’s be real here. NYE In The Park’s lineup was pretty Triple J worthy, including breakthroughs like Haiku Hands and Parcels, to very strong regulars like Vera Blue, Northeast Party House and Paces.
Furnace And The Fundamentals might not ring many bells straight up, but the lads in this band (in full suits, bravo) did more of a ‘best of’ covers set that included everything from Kings Of Leon, to Foo Fighters, to Genuwine to Backstreet Boys. It’s sort of the perfect vibe for a new years throw-down. And then the rising Hot Dub Time Machine smashed an amazing NYE set, that (if you haven’t experienced before) goes through multiple decades of music, before he finished with some of the best tracks of 2017. Pretty damn impressive, nostalgic and party-worthy.
Location With Easy Transport
Held in the grassy surrounds of Victoria Park just off Broadway in Sydney, the venue itself was a 15-20 minute walk from Central Station, with everyday busses stopping all around the venue (so no event-specific busses were needed.) With inner west suburbs a short walking distance, and the CBD a five minute Uber away, it was just enough out of the main fireworks/Harbour area where traffic was mental.
TLDR: NYE In The Park was a wicked NYE festival, for a pretty cheap price and with a sweet lineup. If this can be done in the expensive-ness of Sydney, can we please get a few more equivalents across the country? Kthx.
Image Source: NYE In The Park Facebook / BCS Imaging
