Falls Festival broadcast on ABC TV

In a first for Falls Music & Arts Festival, ABC-TV will be broadcasting from the Lorne Victoria and Byron Bay sites on New Year’s Eve.

The one-hour coverage runs between 11 pm to midnight on Thursday December 31.

It is expected to be a mix of live and delayed footage, to include sets by Hilltop Hoods, Courtney Barnett, Bloc Party, Foals, Wombats, Birds of Tokyo, Paul Kelly Presents The Merri Soul Sessions, Rufus and Peking Duk.

This year’s Falls Lorne has sold out after selling 16,000 tickets, with Byron Bay also 16,000 and Marion Bay in Tasmania at 10,000. The ABC exposure will expand the Falls brand name to audiences beyond music fans who attend festivals.

Jessica Ducrou, who with Splendour In The Grass partner Paul Pittico took over as Directors of the festivals four years ago, told TMN, “It was a compliment when the ABC approached us a couple of months ago. Falls is an incredibly popular festival with a lot of media support. But it’s surprising that a lot of people don’t know about it, so this is good exposure obviously.”

The 60-minute Falls segment is part of ABC-TV’s four hour entertainment coverage in the run-up to 2016.

It begins at 8.30 on ABC Children where adding to Bananas In Pyjamas, Humpty Dumpty, Hoot And Hootabelle and Play School character appearances is a live set from Sheppard and the cast of the London Palladium’s production of The Sound of Music.

From 9 pm, Eddie Perfect and Ella Hooper host the countdown which includes a Lawrence Mooney-hosted Pub Trivia quiz on the highs and lows of 2015 with teams including Alan Brough, Michala Banas, Emma Alberici, Nazeem Hussein, Luke McGregor and Tom Ballard, and guests Barrie Cassidy, Marty Sheargold and Angela Bishop.

After the Falls hour, ABC TV has comedian Joel Creasy hunting for Sydney’s NYE parties before the Sydney Midnight Fireworks begin over Sydney Harbour as 2016 clicks in.