Line-up for McLaren Valley Music & Arts Festival Announced

Prominent UK electronic duo Disclosure and iconic psychedelic band The Flaming Lips, will headline New Zealand’s first McLaren Valley Festival in January 2016. Also featuring on the bill is Sydney’s hottest EDM DJ Alison Wonderland, and revered Philadelphian rock troubadour Kurt Vile.

The McLaren Valley Music & Arts Festival will take place at the picturesque McLaren Falls Park, Bay of Plenty from 10-12 January 2016. The lake and bush setting nestled below the Kaimai Ranges – and only 20 minutes’ drive from Tauranga – features rolling hills, glow worm caves and forests, and an onsite camping experience amongst the wilderness. 

The first 20 artists for the festival have been announced and McLaren Valley Music & Arts Festival director Paxton Talbot promises many more to come.



McLaren Valley will host three days of premiere music performed on three stages and featuring a genre-blending line-up of international and local heavyweights careening between the realms of pop, rock, folk, electronica, psychedelia, blues, hip-hop, world, alternative and beyond. 

Joining the international line-up for the event are the 2014 winners of Britain's reputed Mercury Prize, self-titled ‘Liberian/Nigerian/Scottish psychedelic hip-hop electro boy band’ Young Fathers; as well as Australian artists C.W. Stoneking, The Preatures and Jordan Léser.

The New Zealand line-up includes David Dallas & the Daylight Robbery, The Datsuns, The Phoenix Foundation, Avalanche City, Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders, Tiny Ruins, P-Money, Racing, The Eastern, Fazerdaze, Arthur Ahbez, and iconic Dunedin pop band The Chills coinciding with the release of their first new album in 19 years.

Markets, a wellness programme and themed camping will create a festival that Talbot promises will bring "a taste of Glastonbury and Coachella to the Pacific".

Heading the festival line-up is British dance duo, Disclosure. After a whirlwind and meteoric rise, brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence return to NZ shores in support of their feverishly anticipated sophomore album Caracal featuring the new single ‘Omen ft. Sam Smith’. Disclosure arrives riding high on the phenomenal success of their debut Settle which included the singles ‘Latch ft. Sam Smith’, ‘You & Me’ and ‘Holding On’.
 
Co-headlining and named one of the 'top 50 bands to see before you die' (Q Magazine), melodically multi-layered and psychedelic band The Flaming Lips are known for their elaborate stage shows of complex light configurations and video projections, as well as balloons, eclectic costumes, giant hands, confetti, puppets and a signature man-sized plastic bubble.

Regarded as Sydney’s hottest EDM DJ, Alison Wonderland is making huge waves worldwide with her synth pop, hip-hop and electronica tunes. After garnering praise from the likes of Diplo and Annie Mac for her first EP I Want U, 2015 saw the release of her critically acclaimed debut album Run, monstrous performances at Coachella, Lollapalooza and Splendour In The Grass, as well as sold out tours across Australia and New Zealand.

Multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Kurt Vile exudes cool with his blend of lo-fi, indie folk-rock anthems. Accompanied by his band The Violators and influenced by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young, Vile is brilliantly clear, seemingly candid and has a diverse rock’n’roll sound with a highly reputed live show.

McLaren Valley Festival director Paxton Talbot says more acts will be announced in the coming months as the line-up grows to present a festival 'unique and special to New Zealand'.

"We’ve picked these artists with excellence in mind. Bands and performers who, no matter their genre, will be able to speak to any member of the audience on some level, just due to their sheer calibre."

Talbot, who has extensive experience working in director roles for music festivals in New Zealand and Europe, said the Festival is an all ages event and will feature different offerings for the varied audience including: family camping options, glamping at a stunning lakeside site, other camping in clearings around the site, and options close to the music stages for those who want to be close to the action.

Tickets for McLaren Valley Music & Arts Festival are on sale from Monday 24 August through Ticketmaster 0800 111 999 www.ticketmaster.co.nz or directly through www.mvf.co.nz Three-day passes, camping tickets as well as youth and family options will be available.