The 20th anniversary edition of Australia’s Splendour In the Grass is more than a year away, though festival-fans just got a taste of what’s to come.
On Monday, organizers confirmed Tyler, The Creator and The Strokes have signed up for the rescheduled Splendour dates, now set for July 23-25, 2021.
Also, virtual British band Gorillaz will slot into the top of the bill. The Damon Albarn-led project replaces Flume, who was originally booked for Splendour’s 2020 edition, but isn’t available for the new dates in 2021.
It’s something of a “Feel Good Inc” development from Splendour’s producers Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco, who had tentatively pushed back this year’s show by three months to October 2020 due to the pandemic. Last month, Ducrou and Piticco conceded those plans couldn’t work and the popular three-day festival was delayed by a full year.
“We have been monitoring the situation closely for the past few months and while Australia is now moving into the recovery phase, there is no timeline yet around the opening of international borders,” said Ducrou and Piticco, co-CEOs of Secret Sounds, in a statement issued at the time.
As a result, and “with our audience interests front and centre,” the message continues, “we must announce the reschedule to 2021 now.”
A bill loaded with international and local acts was originally announced for 2020, including Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Midnight Oil (The Makarrata Project), Glass Animals, Denzel Curry, Duke Dumont Live, Violent Soho, Mura Masa and King Krule.
There’s no real clarity on when travel restrictions will be lifted, though Ducrou and Piticco have said they “intend to rebook” as many of those artists as possible and they’ve begun to work through that process.
The rest of the Splendour in the Grass lineup will drop in early 2021. Tickets are available at Moshtix.
